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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25819546">Blood Pressure Boy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claycastles/pseuds/Claycastles'>Claycastles</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Suite Life of Zack &amp; Cody, Suite Life on Deck, Wizards of Waverly Place</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Coming Out, Episode Related, First Kiss, Google Translate Spanish, M/M, Making Out, They're both like 17 in this, Zack has a gay crisis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:47:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>26,327</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25819546</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claycastles/pseuds/Claycastles</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Anyone else remember the Suite Life on Deck / Wizards of Waverly Place crossover episode? The one where Zack and Max basically spend the entire time going on dates? And they share a slushie with two straws? Yeah that was pretty gay, wasn't it?</p>
<p>Well, I made it gayer. You're welcome.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Zack Martin/Max Russo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>156</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Incredibly Cool, Serious Stuff That People Laugh At For No Reason.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <strong>Zack Martin</strong>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There was a boy taking people’s blood pressure on the sky deck.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t look like a medical professional in any way shape or form. He was just… some guy. Some guy who was taking people’s blood pressure for fun.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack was trying not to stare, but his shift at Easy Squeezy mixing fruity drinks, wasn’t exactly the most interesting thing in his line of sight anymore because there was a <em>boy</em>… taking people’s<em> blood pressure</em>… for <em>fun?</em></span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack pretended not to watch for well over an hour, as he bounced from person to person, everyone from the elderly to five year olds, anyone who would indulge him with a confused but amused smile on their face as they offered the boy their arm. The boy had one of those grins plastered across his face, the kind of goofy smile that somehow communicated to everyone around him he had no idea what he was doing, but he was having <em>so much fun</em> doing it! And that counted for something, right?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Then people seemed to get bored of his antics, and they started turning the boy away, waving him off with a shake of their head, or an odd look. The boy deflated at the denial, a pout on his lips...</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>His lips looked soft.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Wait a minute, what? Zack gave a hard shake of his head, as if trying to dislodge the thought from his brain. He couldn’t be thinking like that… No homo.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Finally forcing his eyes away from the strange boy for long enough to actually do the thing he was being paid to do… Zack mixed a girl her drink and handed it over with a polite customer service, <em>'please don't ask for my manager'</em> smile. She was pretty, with long blonde hair, and a flirty smile.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She slipped something across the counter, “My number…” She explained slyly, “Text me.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack blinked at her in surprise, then his eyes flicked over to the boy again, although he couldn’t quite place why. The boy was taking his own blood pressure now, sitting in one of the lounge chairs.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Um, hello?” The girl leaned over the counter a little to catch his eyes again, and Zack startled.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh! Uh, thank you.” He flashed her a smile that didn’t feel <em>quite</em> genuine, and pocketed the slip of paper.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She smiled, flipped her hair over one shoulder, and left with her drink.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack followed her with his gaze, but as she passed the boy, his eyes stuck there.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span><em>“Someone get this thing off me! It keeps getting tighter!”</em> The boy pleaded in a panic, still squeezing the pump instead of taking the damn thing off. People were giving the boy weird glances, but no one was helping! They thought it was a <em>joke</em> or something, but the boy looked frantic!</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack snatched a toothpick from the bar and made a b-line for the boy. He popped the device, and the boy sighed in relief as the air hissed out of it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Ahhh, thanks.” The boy finally removed it from his arm, and gave Zack an idiotic grin that spanned his entire face. He was handsome close up, bright eyes the color of coffee… and Zack couldn’t help but glance at his lips. They did look <em>very</em> soft…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>No. Stop that. No homo.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack shook himself out of his thoughts and greeted the kid. “So, I hear you're randomly taking people's blood pressure,” Zack said like he wasn’t staring intently mere minutes ago.. “I’m Zack. I'm kinda the one on the ship who does weird and hilarious stuff. You’re kind of stealing my thunder.” He teased.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, good for you.” The boy stood, and Zack had to stop himself from looking surprised. He was quite a few inches taller than Zack and for some reason it made his stomach do an anxious little flip. “I'm the one who does incredibly cool, serious stuff that people laugh at for no reason.” The boy grinned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The laugh that escaped Zack was breathless and genuine, but he wouldn’t be shown up by this <em>(admittedly very handsome)</em> newcomer. “That sounds like a challenge.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, that's where you're wrong.” The boy said, beaming. “It sounds to me like the whole time you've been talking, I've been trying to figure out what you meant by <em>‘blood pressure.’”</em></span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Okay, so he was kind of dumb… so was Zack. He could work with this, you didn’t need to be smart to be fun. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack stepped closer, into the boy’s personal space, grinning mischievously. “Oh, it's on. You and me. Tonight. Easy Squeezy. We're drinking super-sized <em>everything</em> slushies. They give you a slush rush. See if you can handle it.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The boy, to his credit, didn’t back down. In fact, he stepped closer, their noses almost touching. “You’re <em>on.”</em></span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack's mouth went dry at the fierce determination in the boy's eyes... and the <em>amazing</em> view he had of them from so short a distance. They were the kind of brown that lit up gold in the sunshine, and Zack's brain was having trouble finding any words that weren't that weren't a compliment... this wasn't helpful for trash talk, so Zack just shut his mouth and willed himself to step back. He couldn't manage it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The boy stepped back first, his posture relaxed, and a playful smile on his face. "See you later tonight then. It's a date."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack's heart thudded against his ribcage, "Wait, it's a <em>what?" </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>The boy offered no response. He was already halfway across the sky deck, and out of earshot.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And when Zack finally recovered, he realized... <span>he didn’t even ask the boy’s name. <em>Shit.</em></span></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. No One Paid Much Attention To Max</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <strong>Max Russo</strong>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>No one paid much attention to Max. His dad was always busy reining Alex in, or managing the shop. His mother was doing the same along with all the housework. Justin and Alex only really paid attention to him when they got into trouble.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>...For the most part, everyone had bigger problems to deal with than Max’s straight F’s, and questionable choices in entertainment. He liked it that way! It made things like <em>this</em> easier.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Things like the boy mixing slushies at the bar.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Things he hadn’t explained to his parents yet.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Or Alex.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Or Justin.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>None of them really needed to know, and he knew none of them would notice, because they were always way too wrapped up in Alex’s drama to notice <em>anything</em> he did.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And it was fine. He liked it like that, as he often told himself.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He had bigger things to worry about at the moment, like destroying--, <em>oh nooooo,</em> Max just realized he never asked Slushie Boy’s name. Whatever, doesn’t matter, Max’ll still destroy him at their competition later!</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>...But a little practice never hurt anyone, so Max found himself on the sky deck, sucking down a large cherry slushie as quick as he could when Justin came practically scrambling up, looking panicked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Max!” Justin was pulling off a white lab coat, “Dude, I’m in trouble. London Tipton thinks I’m the rich Dr. Fossil, and she’s on her way down to take a picture with the <em>’poor Russos.’”</em></span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max sprung up from his chair, coming to the most important conclusion from Justin’s rant; “Oh no! We’re poor? Well then,” He ripped off a sandal to show it to Justin, “I guess I can't afford these.” He struggled to take off the other, hopping on one foot, but once they were both off, Max tossed them overboard.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Justin just shook his head, an disappointed expression Max had seen <em>many</em> times on his face. “You’re gonna be no help.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max furrowed his eyebrows at Justin. “I thought I was helping?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Justin waved him off dismissively. “Where am I gonna get a disguise?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max had a feeling he wasn’t actually asking him, so he took another sip from his slushie and felt glad he was rarely the one neck deep and about to drown in some stupid scheme... like Alex and Justin so often were.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Harper!” Justin yelped in surprise, and that drew Max’s attention back.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Harper?” He looked, and sure enough, there she was.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hi, Justin!” She said, all too cheerily for someone who would definitely be considered a stowaway.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re good with costumes, right? I need you to--,” He stopped to second guess himself, “Well I’m not sure I have that material and--, <em>Harper?!”</em> Finally he caught up to the fact that she’s <em>here</em> and not meant to be.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>This whole thing reeked of Alex’s handiwork.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What’re you doing here?” Justin glanced around the sky deck like implying she wasn’t meant to be here would magically get her caught.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m part of Alex’s scheme.” Harper admitted, almost apologetically.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Am I part of her scheme?” Max asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Cool.” That’s all he needed to know. The last thing Max wanted was to get dragged into Alex’s drama and miss his slushie date.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Justin waved him off again, in that <em>’shut up, Max, you aren’t helping,’</em> kind of way, his focus solely on Harper. “I need you to pretend to be Alex Russo.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s also part of Alex’s scheme!” She laughed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Great, I--,”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Harper interrupted him with a gasp, “There’s London Tipton!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max turned, and she was coming down the steps behind them, wearing a shimmery blue outfit.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>London gave them a <em>’I’m doing my best to be polite and do what was asked of me,’</em> kind of smile. “You guys must be the Russos,” she glanced down at her phone to read off names, “Max, Justin, and Alex?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Justin, already resigned to his fate and looking mortified, began to explain himself. “London, I know what you’re thinking…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah,” she interrupted him, “I’m thinking I need to get this photo op over with so I can get back to Dr. Fossil!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max snorted and hurried to cover it with a cough. Yeah, he was dumb, but he wasn’t <em>that</em> dumb. He still knew Clark Kent was Superman, and if the lack of a lab coat is all it took to trick London Tipton, he wasn’t sure <em>she</em> knew that.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>London finally looked back up from her phone, met Justin’s gaze, and giggled, “Oh my gosh! You look just like him!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max turned to look at Justin, and the expression on his face was <em>priceless.</em></span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>London leaned in close to Max, threw up one leg in that little ‘princess kick’ girls do, and gave a grin to the camera woman. Max heard the click and shutter, then London was stepping back, “You just met London Tipton! Have a nice cruise!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Then she was gone, moving like her ass was fine, way too damn eager to get back to <em>’Dr. Fossil.’</em></span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The absolute dejection on Justin’s face was so good, Max wanted to take a picture, but instead he settled for the next best thing… he might be dumb, but he knows how to use it to his advantage, so he watches London go, and twists the knife. “That girl is <em>really</em> dumb,” knowing hearing that from <em>him</em> of all people will be a devastating blow for Justin. “And that’s coming from <em>me.”</em></span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Justin gave him an irritated look, and Max wasn’t gonna stick around to hear whatever terrible comeback Justin had, especially not when he had about twenty minutes to get to his slushie date, so he pat Justin on the back, and excused himself. “Gotta go.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And because no one ever paid any attention to Max, no one asked where he was going… and he didn’t tell them.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. What Had Zack Gotten Himself Into?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <strong>Zack Martin</strong>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>What exactly does <em>‘a date’</em> mean anyway? It doesn’t <em>have</em> to be a <em>date</em> date. He could have meant it as ‘yes, I’ll see you there on the agreed upon date!’ That doesn’t imply it’s romantic.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It’s not <em>that</em> kind of date. If it was, Zack would know!</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But he didn’t know, and that was exactly the issue here.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And if Zack spent his entire shift stressing over it, well then… that’s none of your business, is it? And if he dropped a platter of empty cups when he turned around to see the boy grinning at him… again, that’s none of your business. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Shit, sorry!” Zack scrambled to pick up the mess, but when he reached for the last cup, the boy beat him to it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You startle easy, huh?” Blood Pressure Boy handed back the last cup, and Zack pointedly ignored the flutter in his stomach when their fingertips brushed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I’m just clumsy.” He set the dirty cups in the sink to be dealt with later, and when he looked back…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Blood Pressure Boy has made himself comfortable. He was sitting on the stool, criss cross applesauce, and grinning. He was barefoot. “So, you ready to lose?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I was <em>born</em> ready!” Zack snapped back before thinking it through, but when his words caught up to him, his face went warm. <em>”Wait,”</em></span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He tilted his head, amused. “Should I take that as a forfeit?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Absolutely not!” Huffing, Zack grabbed two super sized cups and turned to make the slushies. “What flavor do you want?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Blood Pressure Boy shrugged. “You pick.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Never has such a simple choice seems so daunting. Zack felt frozen, staring down the flavors and trying to gage what he’d like best. Finally, he settled on his personal favorite, strawberry, and started pouring.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When he moved to pour a second drink, the boy stopped him with a gentle hand on his wrist. “Hey, wait. Do we have to pay for this?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack shrugged dismissively. “I was just gonna take it out of my paycheck.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Blood Pressure Boy shook his head. “You don’t have to do that, it’s a huge drink, we can share.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack’s heart did a funny little flip in his chest at the mental image of them drinking from one cup with two straws. It made him anxious, and… warm? Giddy? He couldn’t quite place it, and that in turn only made him more nervous.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh,”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’ll be fine, just grab another straw.” He insisted.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack stared, half expecting a ‘no homo’ tacked on at the end, but it never came. This felt like the kind of moment where someone should say ‘no homo.’ But he didn’t say it, and even more surprisingly… neither did Zack.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He risked a glance around them. The deck was almost abandoned as it got darker and darker. For all intents and purposes, they were alone. No one would <em>see.</em> No one would <em>know</em>. Giving in, Zack placed a second straw in the cup. “Alright.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It felt almost like admitting something.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Blood Pressure Boy hopped off his stool and circled the counter to stand beside Zack. He had to huddle close to reach his straw, but Zack… wasn’t sure the boy minded. He didn’t look bothered, he looked… pleased? He put one hand on the drink, to steady it, and looked to Zack, a mischievous grin on his face.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Ready?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>No.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The boy began to count down, “Three… Two… One!” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They both dove on to drink, and Zack did his damnedest to focus on the competition, but then he felt a hand on his lower back. Blood Pressure Boy was moving in closer, touching him, invading his personal space in a very /yes/ homo kind of way.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And Zack? He got distracted, because Blood Pressure Boy made eye contact over the straws, and Zack choked. His eyes were such a deep brown, and they were so much darker at night, but the colorful lights of the slushie bar reflected in them, and left Zack a bit light headed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was all so foreign, and made him want to leap away! Or even more terrifyingly…<em> lean into it.</em></span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Not to mention he was /so warm,/ and just standing close beside him in the night air, Zack could feel it. He shuffled an inch or two closer before he could stop himself, and the boy welcomed it. His hand on Zack’s lower back felt more steady then.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When the drink ran dry with empty slurping sounds, they both drew back.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Time! I finished first.” The boy declared, victorious, pointing at Zack as if he was proof, and wearing the smile of a guy who was clueless to everything around him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I finished first.” He protested. “This is exactly why I said we shouldn't drink from the same cup! You can't tell who finished first.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah…” The boy rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, his other going to his pocket as he nodded in agreement, yet somehow still looked baffled by why this didn’t work. “Maybe you're right. I have an idea how we can settle this.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Settle what?” Because honestly, what had Zack gotten himself into?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Don't try to confuse me.” The Blood Pressure Boy said, but Zack didn’t think he needed any assistance being confused. “Look, I'm gonna beat you at luggage cart races tomorrow.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, you're <em>on.”</em> This poor boy had no idea what he’d just done. Zack practically grew up with luggage cart races back in the hotel, and Cody never beat him once.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Exactly.” The boy nodded with a smug little smile, and Zack had no idea what he meant by that, but it sent another wave of warmth through his body that he couldn’t quite explain.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When the boy left, Zack realized once again, he never asked his name.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>"Idiot."</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Lowkey Max Got Trauma</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Catch me projecting all my undiagnosed ADHD trauma and insecurities about being the dumb sibling onto Max.</p><p>Legit tho a teacher told me I was "Unteachable" my freshmen year of high school, and that Fucked Me Up.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> <strong>Max Russo</strong> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>When Max went back to their essay award winning cabin, which he was still pretty sure was just where they treated the sick people, Justin was already preparing for bed, looking miserable. Max, on the other hand, still felt like he was floating from his date.</p><p> </p><p>He really didn’t want to damper his mood by listening to Justin’s girl problems when he couldn’t go into detail on his own <em>boy</em> problems… mainly that he forgot to ask Slushie Boy’s name, again!</p><p> </p><p>After some quick consideration, Max sighed and resigned himself being dragged into some sibling drama. As much as he hated how his older siblings eclipsed him with their own problems, leaving him to be shoved off to the side by their parents… he still cared about them.</p><p> </p><p>“Who kicked your puppy?” Max asked as he rattled the bathroom door, intending to change for bed.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m changing!” Alex’s voice chimed from inside.</p><p> </p><p>Justin shrugged and stared up at the ceiling from his bed. “I don’t know what I expected. I didn’t think she’d be some kind of genius, but… yikes.”</p><p> </p><p>Max hummed in agreement. “You’re gonna break up with her, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>Justin just gave a miserable groan in response.</p><p> </p><p>The bathroom door opened, and Alex stepped out, ready for bed. “What’re we talking about?”</p><p> </p><p>“London Tipton.” Max grabbed his PJs and made a b-line for the bathroom.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, right, you had that photo op today.”</p><p> </p><p>Max shut and locked the bathroom door behind him, but it was a thin door, so he could still hear the conversation as he changed clothes.</p><p> </p><p>“How’d it go?” Alex asked. “Was it really her, or like… a cardboard cutout?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hilarious.” Justin droned. “You gotta help me, Alex. She’s so dumb even <em>Max</em> thinks she’s dumb.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oooh,” Max could practically hear the wince in her voice. “You gotta dump her.”</p><p> </p><p>Being called dumb didn’t really bother Max. He was used to it, and he might be a straight F student, and an idiot, but he was a self aware idiot. He knew he was dumb. He wasn’t under any illusion that he wasn’t… but there’s a difference to knowing something about yourself, and having people you love think that thing about you.</p><p> </p><p>Sometimes it stung a little bit, and if Max stopped changing in favor of taking a shower so he didn’t have to listen to the rest of the conversation, then what’s the harm in that? The water drowned out their voices, and Max was left alone with his thoughts for a bit.</p><p> </p><p>It wasn’t like he didn’t try, okay? He tried in school, he did his best for years. All through elementary and middle school, he did his best, but all he could manage was D’s and no amount of studying helped. </p><p> </p><p>His teachers called him dumb before his family ever did.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> ’He doesn’t do the work.’ </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> ’He never pays attention to the lesson.’ </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> ’He’s always doodling in his notebooks or on his assignment.’ </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> ’He doesn’t learn.’ </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> ’He’s unteachable.’ </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> ’He’s dumb.’ </em>
</p><p> </p><p>High school was even worse.</p><p> </p><p>And <em>god,</em> Max hated parent teacher conferences. He’s heard all that over and over and over again, it had gotten to the point where he could mouth along with all the common lines teachers threw his way.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, what was he meant to do? Keep trying? He tried for years, and nothing changed. He felt like he was drowning, trying to stay float, stay on top of his classes… it was easier to stop swimming and just <em>drown</em> already.</p><p> </p><p>Why bother anymore?</p><p> </p><p>It was much more fun to ignore class, and grades, and homework, and instead make out with random boys under the bleachers.</p><p> </p><p>Max only stepped out of the shower when he was pretty sure Alex and Justin had officially turned in for the night. When he opened the door, the lights were off, and he could see two shapes in their respective beds, buried under blankets.</p><p> </p><p>Max stopped in front of Alex’s bed and poked the shape. Yep. Pillows under a blanket. Makes sense.</p><p> </p><p>He sighed and trudged off to his own bed. He didn’t know what Alex was up to, but as long as it didn’t affect his luggage cart race date tomorrow… he couldn’t be bothered.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Downward Spiral</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <strong>Zach Martin</strong>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Some event for the teen Hawaii cruise was going to take over the slushie bar. It was some kind of ‘build your own pizza’ thing, and Zack didn’t care much. It just meant he didn’t have to work in the afternoon, only the morning.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So when he finished his shift around when he usually takes his lunch break, he didn’t have much in the way of plans for today. He had Luggage cart racing with Blood Pressure Boy (he’s really gotta figure out that kid’s name, but it’s too late to ask now,) and honestly Zack was still trying to figure out if last night had been a <em>date</em> date or just… hanging out.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He cleaned the slushie bar, clocked out, grabbed his sack lunch that Cody had made for him (because he’s <em>Cody</em> and he always makes Zack lunch,) then headed off to find somewhere to eat. He wasn’t really in the mood to go back to his cabin, or find Woody, or Bailey or someone to eat with. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Cody was still working, collecting towels and passing out new ones, but his lunch break would be soon too, so Zack figured he should at least stop by to see if Cody wanted to eat together…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But when he found Cody, arms full of fresh towels, he was talking to <em>Blood Pressure Boy.</em></span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A spike of panic shot through Zack, and he didn’t entirely know why until he watched the boy lean into Cody’s space and whisper something, with a little smile on his face.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Cody just furrowed his eyebrows, confused, and pointed straight at Zack. “I think you’re looking for my brother, not me.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The boy turned, saw Zack, and looked mortified. “Oh my god, you have a twin.” He practically leapt away from Cody, and started apologizing to both of them profusely. “So sorry! I mistook you for--,” He cut himself off, then started again, “My bad. I’m gonna go throw myself into the ocean.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Before either brother could stop him, Blood Pressure Boy marched away and out of sight, his face bright red.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack felt his face heating up, and he was starting to come to a conclusion he didn’t really want to… From an outside perspective, it was so glaringly easy to see Blood Pressure Boy had been <em>flirting</em> with Cody, thinking he was <em>Zack</em>.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There was no denying it anymore. It was a <em>date</em> date.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack had gone on a <em>date</em> date, with a boy, and he had <em>liked</em> it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Cody snapped him out of his spiraling thoughts with a weirded out look. “Who was that?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, don’t worry about it.” Zack needed to get out of here. Like now. He had so much to think about. “I’m gonna…” He trailed off, but gestured weakly to his sack lunch as a way of explanation. “See you later, Cody.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Bye?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack found a nice quiet spot on an upper level deck. It was where the seniors played shuffleboard and pool, so it was entirely empty at this time of day. He said down at the nearest table and unpacked his lunch.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He took a bite of his sandwich and let his mind finish it’s downward spiral.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Did this mean Zack was gay? He knew there were other words, ones he didn’t know very well, but… it was possible to like guys <em>and</em> girls, right? He took out his phone and started googling.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He’d finished his sandwich and all of his chips by the time he reached a conclusion… he was bisexual.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Probably.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Listen, all Zack knew for sure was he was <em>enjoying</em> another boy flirting with him. That had to mean something, right?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He groaned and set his head down against the table. There was still the Cody issue. The <em>‘a boy flirted with Cody thinking he was Zack, and that’s gonna be a pain in the ass to explain,’</em> issue.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe he could just… hide up here for a little while. At least until the Luggage Cart <em>date</em>, oh my god… that was meant as a date too, wasn’t it? And Zack was still planning to go…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>If nothing else, <em>that</em> definitely said something about his sexuality.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Highkey Max Got Trauma</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> <strong>Max Russo</strong> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Max was going to throw himself into the ocean.</p><p> </p><p>Not a joke. He meant that literally, because he told the <em>wrong twin</em> he thought they ‘had a really cute smile.’ </p><p> </p><p>He found a quiet, secluded part of the ship, grabbed his wand from his back pocket, and jumped off the side of the ship. He hit the cold water with a splash and immediately cast ‘Threemetris Movetris,’ to teleport himself back onto the ship, soaking wet.</p><p> </p><p>He shook himself off, feeling somewhat less embarrassed, and marched back towards the sky deck. He found the <em>not-Slushie Boy</em> towel boy, walked right up, and took a towel.</p><p> </p><p>“What happened to you?” He asked, glancing at him up and down, taking in his sopping wet clothes and hair.</p><p> </p><p>“I threw myself into the ocean.” Max dried off his hair, then wrung out his shirt next.</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t mean that literally.”</p><p> </p><p>Max didn’t correct him. Instead he just took another towel once the first one was soaked through.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, anyway,” He held out a polite hand for a handshake, “I’m Cody, Zack’s brother.”</p><p> </p><p>Max paused just long enough to realize Cody just told him Slushie Boy’s name.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Zack. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Good name. He liked it. Cute.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi, Cody. I’m Max Russo.” He shook his hand.</p><p> </p><p>Cody perked up. “Like <em>Alex</em> Russo? Are you related?”</p><p> </p><p>Max narrowed his eyes suspiciously. It was a question he’d gotten more often than he liked. “Depends. What did she do?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, uh, she’s in my marine biology class. She sits next to me.”</p><p> </p><p>Max nodded with a sympathetic smile, knowing all too well that meant Alex was probably cheating off him. “Sorry for your loss.” He handed back another wet towel and Cody passed him another dry one. “And sorry about earlier. That must’ve been… weird for you.”</p><p> </p><p>Cody shrugged and gave a smile. “Don’t worry about it. Was it a bit off putting for a stranger to tell me I have a cute smile? Yes, but thanks for the compliment I guess.”</p><p> </p><p>Max covered his face with the towel, the embarrassment already creeping back in. “It was meant for your brother,” he groaned, miserably.</p><p> </p><p>Cody just shrugged. “We have the same smile. The complement still applies. My question is, Was that meant to be flirting? Cause you know Zack is straight, right?”</p><p> </p><p>Max felt the urge to throw himself into the sea again. “He is?” His voice came out muffled by the towel. <em>“Fuck,</em> why’d he agree to go on a date with me then?” Max dropped the towel away from his face. “Is this like… a <em>prank?</em> Is he just messing with me? Be honest, Cody.”</p><p> </p><p>It wouldn’t be the first time some straight boy toyed with his feelings as a <em>joke.</em></p><p> </p><p>Cody went silent for a long moment, thinking it over. ”He… he does like playing pranks, but I don’t think he’d do anything <em>that</em> cruel.” He didn’t sound very sure of himself.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.” Max wasn’t sure what else to say. What else was there to say?</p><p> </p><p>Cody shuffled his feet awkwardly. “Are you oka--,”</p><p> </p><p>Max cut him off. “Fine. I’m fine.” He handed back the towel, and Cody moved to give him another, but Max waved him off. “I’m gonna go, uh, if you see your brother, tell him we’re off for later. Tell him something came up, or… I don’t care.”</p><p> </p><p>Max hurried off, and Cody didn’t try to stop him.</p><p> </p><p>He went straight to their cabin without stopping, not quite on the verge of tears, but every step closer to the cabin seemed to get him closer to crying. He fumbled to get the door open, but his hands wouldn’t hold the key steady, so instead he spelled open the lock.</p><p> </p><p>Max was barely through the door before the first silent sob racked through his body. This was better than the time a straight boy asked him on a date just to beat him up, and Max had to knock him out with magic, but… it definitely still hurt.</p><p> </p><p>He liked <em>liked</em> Zack. He was funny, and cute, and he hadn’t called Max dumb to his face yet, so that was an improvement to some of the boys he’d messed around with back home.</p><p> </p><p>He barely knew Zack, but it <em>hurt</em> to be treated like a joke. He was so damn used to being treated like a joke by everyone around him, and he thought maybe, just <em>maybe</em>, Zack was different.</p><p> </p><p>The doorknob rattled, and Max spelled the lock to keep it closed before he could think it through.</p><p> </p><p>It rattled again, harder this time. Then Justin called through the door. “Hey, Alex? Max? You in there? My key isn’t working.”</p><p> </p><p>Max sniffled and wiped his eyes with his sleeves, trying to pull himself together enough to rely without his voice shaking.</p><p> </p><p>After he didn’t get an immediate response, Justin tried, uncertain, “...Harper?”</p><p> </p><p>Max took a deep, steadying breath, and said, “What do you need, Justin?” His voice cracked on him, but he covered it with a cough.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sick?”</p><p> </p><p>Max took the out. “Uh, yeah. I think I’m coming down with something.”</p><p> </p><p>“Good thing our <em>‘award winning cabin’</em> is just the infirmary then, huh?” Justin scoffed. “Uh, I left my lab coat in there, and I’m supposed to go see London, so… can you open the door?”</p><p> </p><p>Max just grabbed the coat off Justin’s bed and spelled it through the door.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh!” Justin gasped, sounding pleased. “Thanks! Feel better! Bye!” Then he left, without saying anything else.</p><p> </p><p>Part of him wished Justin stayed. That he asked Max what was wrong, or saw through the lie, saw that he wasn’t okay, but… no one noticed Max, and despite what he told himself, he really <em>didn’t</em> like it that way.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Oops I made it sad. </p><p>I promise it'll be resolved in the next chapter. Maybe.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Kiss and Make Up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> <strong>Zack Martin</strong> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Cody found Zack eventually, sulking in the same spot he ate lunch. He hadn’t found the motivation to move yet. He was dealing with way too many personal revelations all at once.</p><p> </p><p>He might be gay? He might be bi? He might have a crush on a boy? He might have accidentally come out to his brother because Blood Pressure Boy flirted with Cody? He also might have been a bit jealous about it?</p><p> </p><p>It was giving him a headache, and at the very least, it was quiet on this level of the deck.</p><p> </p><p>“Zack?” Cody’s tone was a stern, he sounded a lot like their mother when he was angry.</p><p> </p><p>Zack managed to sit up, pulling his head off the table. “What?”</p><p> </p><p>Cody had both hands on his hips, still wearing his work uniform. “Were you pranking Max?”</p><p> </p><p>“Who?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh god, you don’t even know his <em>name?</em>”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.” Blood Pressure Boy. Of course. “He never introduced himself, and at this point it was kinda too late to ask.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, his name is Max, and he seemed really upset with you.” Cody took the seat beside Zack, scowling. “He said he asked you out on a date, and you said yes! But when I told him you were straight, he freaked out. He thinks you’re pranking him! Are you? Cause that’s a really fucked up prank, Zack!”</p><p> </p><p>Zack flinched at the scolding. He sounded way too much like their mom. “I wasn’t pranking him! I didn’t think he meant a <em>date</em> date!”</p><p> </p><p>“How did you not know that?”</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t realize it until I saw him flirting with you!” There was another twist of jealousy in his stomach that he did his <em>damnedest</em> to ignore.</p><p> </p><p>Cody went quiet for a second, considering, then said in a slightly softer tone, “You should probably go clear that up with him. Even though you’re not into him like that, you should make sure he knows it wasn’t a prank. Maybe you two can still be friends?”</p><p> </p><p>Zack clenched his teeth and suppressed the urge to correct Cody. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be Max’s <em>friend</em>, he wanted more than that.</p><p> </p><p>When Zack didn’t respond, Cody pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. “His sister is in my marine biology class. She gave me their room number so you could go talk to him.”</p><p> </p><p>Zack didn’t take the paper. He stared at it instead, not sure he had enough courage to go talk to Max.</p><p> </p><p>Cody sighed and forcefully put it in Zack’s hand. “Go talk to him. This is just a stupid misunderstanding, and you need to go clear it up.”</p><p> </p><p>Zack nodded mutely, not yet sure if he was nodding to agree to do it, or to satisfy Cody.</p><p> </p><p>“He also wanted me to tell you that he’s cancelling whatever it is you two were gonna do later.”</p><p> </p><p>Zack’s heart did a weird little clench in his chest. He didn’t want to cancel luggage cart racing. He still wanted to do that with Max, and now… he was going to have to go talk to Max to make that happen.</p><p> </p><p>Damnit.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll go talk to him.”</p><p> </p><p>“Good.” Cody pat him on the shoulder, and left.</p><p> </p><p>Zack sat there for another ten minutes, gathering his courage, then stood up and went in search of Max’s room.</p><p> </p><p>It took him a bit longer than he hoped to find the room, because as it turned out, it was the infirmary. Panic spiked through him, thinking Max had been injured somehow, but when he knocked on the door, Max opened it, looking unharmed beyond puffy red eyes that gave away what he’d been doing in there all alone.</p><p> </p><p>Max took one look at him and immediately went to shut the door, but Zack caught ti just in time.</p><p> </p><p>“It wasn’t a prank, Max, I swear!”</p><p> </p><p>He paused, but didn’t let Zack inside. “Your brother said you were straight, are you just not… out to him?”</p><p> </p><p>That felt like a daunting question. “I… to be honest, I didn’t know I liked guys until you. I didn’t really pick up that you were flirting until I saw you do it with Cody, and now you’ve given me a sexual crisis,”</p><p> </p><p>That drew a short laugh from Max, but it sounded genuine, so Zack kept on.</p><p> </p><p>“So all I really know is I like you, and I fucked up, and I’m sorry, and I really want to go luggage cart racing with you, if that’s okay?”</p><p> </p><p>Max slowly opened the door the rest of the way. “You promise this isn’t a prank? I’ve been burned before, Zack.”</p><p> </p><p>“I swear.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay.” Max gestured him into the room, Zack obliged, and Max shut the door. “So you’re questioning, then?”</p><p> </p><p>Zack shrugged. “I don’t know all the terms, I’m pretty new to this.”</p><p> </p><p>Max snorted. “You’re a baby gay.”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know what that means.” It drew a laugh from Zack anyway.</p><p> </p><p>Max stepped closer, into his space, and Zack had to remind himself he didn’t need to step back. He didn’t need to <em>’no homo’</em> his way out of this when Max put a hand on the side of his neck. “Prove to me you’re not faking this.” He asked, in a low whisper.</p><p> </p><p>Zack’s stomach was doing flips, he could feel Max’s breath on his face. <em>“How?”</em> He exhaled.</p><p> </p><p>Max’s eyes dropped down to Zack’s mouth, and <em>oh</em>, he got the message. Okay. He could do that.</p><p> </p><p>He <em>wanted</em> to do that.</p><p> </p><p>Hesitant, Zack put a hand on Max’s waist, and Max leaned into the touch. “I’m nervous.” He admitted, as a way of an apology in case it was terrible… then he kissed Max.</p><p> </p><p>Max made a soft sound under his lips, and pressed back, and oh <em>god</em>, this was doing things to Zack. It didn’t feel like kissing a girl. They both felt good, but this was a different kind of <em>good</em>, a <em>better </em>good.</p><p> </p><p>He pressed forward, his other hand going to the back of Max’s neck. The brown curls there were so soft in his fingers.</p><p> </p><p>After a moment, Max pulled back to breathe, and Zack chased his lips on pure instinct, trying to get them back against his.</p><p> </p><p>Max put a hand on his chest to stop him, and cracked a grin. “Yeah, no straight boy is that eager.”</p><p> </p><p>Zack’s face felt hot. “I--,”</p><p> </p><p>“Not a bad thing.” Max assured him, then fully stepped out of Zack’s space. “So, luggage cart racing?”</p><p> </p><p>Zack cleared his throat to collect himself, his entire body tingling from Max’s touch, but his need for competition steadying him. “I’m gonna crush you at luggage cart racing. You might as well just give up now.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh?” Max grabbed a jacket off the bed and pulled it on, ushering Zack towards the door.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah dude, I lived in a hotel for most of my childhood. I made luggage cart racing my <em>bitch</em>, I practically invented it.” Zack led Max out the door, and waited for him to lock it behind them.</p><p> </p><p>Max shook his head, amused, but unimpressed. “I’m from New York, we’re naturally more aggressive, I will <em>destroy</em> you.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re about as threatening as a puppy.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I told y'all I'd fix it. &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Year Round</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> <strong>Max Russo</strong> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Luggage cart racing was… chaotic at best. Zack won, which he wasn’t too surprised about, but then some girl started choking on pizza, and Alex saved her, and then everyone was confused on who Alex was because some people were calling her Ashley and Harper was calling her… <em>Harper? </em></p><p> </p><p>It was all very ridiculous, and then when Max tried to clear it all up, Alex pushed him in the hot tub! Not cool. 0/10, would not recommend. </p><p> </p><p>“Whatever your name is, young lady, you are in <em>huge </em>trouble!” Mr Mosby was scolding her. Max remembered him from when they boarded the S.S. Tipton. He seemed… stressed, <em>all the time.</em></p><p> </p><p>Zack helped him out of the hot tub, and Cody was conveniently nearby to hand him a towel, then they snuck off for some privacy… and by <em>privacy</em> Max, of course, meant they ended up in Zack’s cabin.</p><p> </p><p>Zack locked the door behind them, but said, “My roommate Woody might still interrupt us, so…”</p><p> </p><p>Max shrugged, unconcerned. “Do you have somewhere I can sit?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, uh, right! Sorry!” Zack hurried to his bed to push a pile of dirty laundry off it.</p><p> </p><p>Max took the opportunity to spell the door, whispering, <em>“Key in my pocket, only I can unlock it.”</em> That would keep Zack’s roommate away for awhile. He’d undo it before he left.</p><p> </p><p>Zack turned around just as Max finished tucking his wand away. He gestured to the clear bed like he was so proud of himself.</p><p> </p><p>Max just grinned back, but hesitated to sit down. “Thanks, but are you sure you want me to sit on your bed? I’m still pretty damp.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s fine.”</p><p> </p><p>Max sat down, feeling the mattress dip under him.</p><p> </p><p>Zack sat beside him, radiating nervous energy. “So, you’ve dated guys before, right?” Max had a feeling Zack was only asking because he needed at least one person here to know what they're doing. He was the same way when he first realized he wasn’t straight.</p><p> </p><p>Max nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, but none of them really lasted.”</p><p> </p><p>“How come?”</p><p> </p><p>Max chewed the inside of his cheek and averted his eyes. “Uh…”</p><p> </p><p>Zack hesitated a moment, then took Max’s hand, like he was just now realizing that was something he was allowed to do. “You don’t <em>have</em> to answer.”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Max began, fidgeting with his jacket sleeves, “but I’m not the smartest guy around. I know that, but people like to <em>remind</em> me of that. <em>A lot,</em> and I don’t like being in a relationship where the other person is constantly reminding me I’m an idiot.”</p><p> </p><p>Zack went quiet for a long moment.</p><p> </p><p>Max stared at his shoes to avoid looking at him. He felt like he was waiting to be insulted again… but instead Zack shifted a bit closer, so their knees were touching.</p><p> </p><p>“I know the feeling. You met my brother, you get it. It’s hard for people to see you as smart when you’ve got a sibling with straight A’s, and you get C’s at best.” Zack sighed and carded his fingers through his hair. “It doesn’t mean you aren’t smart in your own way. People always talk about book smarts vs street smarts, but no one talks about people smarts.”</p><p> </p><p>Max raised an eyebrow. <em>“‘People smarts?’”</em></p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, like…” Zack trailed off, then started over. “You know how some people are just really charismatic, and they know how to cheer you up, and they just kinda… <em>get it</em> even when they’ve never been through what you’ve been through?”</p><p> </p><p>“I guess…?”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s you.” Zack nudged his shoulder. “You’ve got people smarts.”</p><p> </p><p>Max blinked at him owlishly. He couldn’t remember the last time someone called him smart, and it was making his heart do all kinds of complex gymnastics in his chest. “You… think I’m smart?”</p><p> </p><p>“You were smart enough to figure out something about me that <em>I</em> didn’t even know about me, somehow you knew when you saw me that I was… well, <em>whatever</em> I am,” Zack wouldn’t look at him as he spoke, instead focusing on their joint hands. “And you helped me realize it too.”</p><p> </p><p>Max really didn’t want to cry twice in one day, but Zack was bringing him dangerously close to it, so he tried to shrug it off as a joke, “That’s just my on point gaydar, not ‘<em>people smarts.’”</em></p><p> </p><p>Zack scowled at the dismissal. “It’s people smarts. Trust me, Max, you’re smarter than people give you credit for.”</p><p> </p><p>Reluctantly, Max took the compliment. “Thanks.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m gonna keep saying it until you believe me.”</p><p> </p><p>Max felt a bit too much like his life was being put under the microscope, so he shifted his body to face Zack on the bed. “Guess if I want any peace and quiet I’ll have to keep your mouth busy another way, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>He leaned in to kiss Zack, and Zack tensed for only a second before relaxing into it. It was fine, he was still getting used to this. Max didn’t hold it against him. Max cupped his cheek, and Zack got a hand fisted in Max’s jacket. He was kissing back with much more force now, eager, and inexperienced.</p><p> </p><p>Zack was the first to pull back, a panicked look on his face. “Wait a minute.”</p><p> </p><p>“What? Are you okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re here for the teen cruise, right?” Zack had a look of growing dread in his eyes. “You’re leaving in a few days!”</p><p> </p><p>“No!” It was out of his mouth before he could think it through. “No, My brother and sister are here for the teen cruise, I’m here for longer.” It was a glaring lie, but it was too late to go back on it.</p><p> </p><p>A spark of hope appeared in Zack’s eyes and Max didn’t have the heart to squash it. “How long?”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh,” <em>Fuck.</em> “I’m gonna be here year round.”</p><p> </p><p>Zack’s shoulders seemed to relax a little. “Really? You aren’t leaving with your siblings?”</p><p> </p><p>“No. I’m not. For very real reasons that exist.” <em>Fuck fuck fuck.</em></p><p> </p><p>“Secretive, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“Family stuff. I’ll tell you another time.” <em>’I’ll tell you when I come up with a good excuse for why I would stay and my siblings wouldn’t.’</em></p><p> </p><p>A little smile returned to Zack’s face, and he leaned back in to peck Max’s lips, a kiss so sweet he could already feel the regret of lying melting away. “Great, that means we can do <em>this</em> more often.”</p><p> </p><p>The door knob jiggled, and Zack startled so hard he fell off the bed. <em>“Woody’s back!”</em></p><p> </p><p>Max wasn’t nearly as concerned, Woody wasn’t gonna get through that door while it was spelled shut.</p><p> </p><p>“Zack, did you block the door? It won’t open!”</p><p> </p><p>“If he asks, we’re just friends.” Zack scrambled towards the door.</p><p> </p><p>Max gave a thumbs up. It stung a little, but it wasn’t like <em>he</em> was ready to be out either.</p><p> </p><p>As soon as Zack’s back was turned, hand on the doorknob, Max slide his wand out of his pocket and whispered,<em> ”Out of my pocket, the key can unlock it.”</em></p><p> </p><p>The door swung open, and a chubby boy with dark curly hair stepped in, holding a paper plate with pizza on it. “Did you know they were doing a ‘make your own pizza’ bar on the sky deck?”</p><p> </p><p>Zack nodded. “Yep. We saw.”</p><p> </p><p>“We? Oh,” Woody’s eyes finally landed on Max. “Hi, I’m Woody.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m Max.”</p><p> </p><p>Max hopped up from Zack’s bed. “I should head back to my own cabin. Alex got in pretty big trouble earlier and my brother just broke up with London Tipton, so I kinda want to go rub their noses in it.”</p><p> </p><p>Woody furrowed his eyebrows and said through a mouthful of pizza, “He broke up with <em>London?”</em></p><p> </p><p>“Yep.” Max pat Zack on the back as he went, pausing just long enough in the doorway to say, “See you tomorrow?”</p><p> </p><p>Zack nodded, rubbing self consciously at the beck of his neck. “Totally.”</p><p> </p><p>As soon as the door was shut behind him, Max wanted to scream. How the <em>hell</em> was he gonna pull off being here <em>year round?</em></p><p> </p><p>There’s gotta be a spell for that, right?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. All That Mattered</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>gonna be real with you, this chapter exist almost entirely because I wanted to stick to the back and forth perspective thing I had going with the chapters.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Zack Martin</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack sat with his laptop in his bed, scrolling through different websites with definitions of different sexualities. Half of it seemed like another language to him, like ‘asexual.’ The definition the website gave <em> kinda </em> made sense to him, but personally he couldn’t imagine it. Not being attracted to <em> anyone? </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maybe all it proved as Zack <em> wasn’t </em>that. If it was a term that existed, there must be people out there that are it, but Zack wasn’t one of them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He risked a glance at Woody’s bed. He was still out cold. Good, Zack really didn’t feel like explaining why he was awake at 3am with all the lights off, scrolling through LGBT websites. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>A term that <em> did </em> kinda make sense to him was pansexuality. He didn’t think that was him either though. Kissing Max felt different from kissing girls. He <em> liked </em> kissing girls, and he <em> liked </em>kissing Max, but the two experiences felt completely different.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The definition he found for pansexual seemed like it meant gender wasn’t even a factor. That wasn’t him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There were so many labels, and so many flags, Zack felt a bit lost. It seemed like bisexual fit best, but finding a label for himself and saying, <em> ‘yes, this is it, this is what I am,’ </em>felt terrifying. He shut the laptop and set it aside, sighing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He didn’t <em> really </em>need to have this figured out the same week he realized he wasn’t straight, right? He was young, and new to this, and he had plenty of time to figure it all out.</p>
<p><br/>For right now, he liked <em> Max </em>, and that was all that mattered.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Desperate Times Call For Magical Measures</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Max has known this boy for what? 3 days? And he's already whipped?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Max Russo</b>
  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Max caught Alex by the arm in the morning, just as she was about to leave for the class she <em> actually </em> had to attend now. “Before I ask you this, I want you to remember the many <em> many </em>times I’ve helped you with a scheme.”</p><p> </p><p>Alex blinked at him, then a sly grin spread across her face. “I’m listening.”</p><p> </p><p>Justin stuck his fingers in his ears. “Nope! I want no part of this! I’m leaving!” He hurried out the door, shutting it behind himself, and leaving them alone.</p><p> </p><p>Max let go of her arm and pressed his hands together in a pleading motion. “Please tell me you brought one of dad’s spell books with you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course I did, what do you take me for?” She glided across the room and pulled a thick, old book from her bag. “What’re you gonna use this for?”</p><p> </p><p>“Do you honestly want to know what I’m up to?”</p><p> </p><p>Alex considered for a moment, then asked, “Does it involve me at all?”</p><p> </p><p>“Nope.” </p><p> </p><p>“Then no.” She handed over the book. “Put it back in my bag when you’re done. If I lose that, we’re all grounded.”</p><p> </p><p>“It won’t leave this room, I swear.”</p><p> </p><p>She nodded approvingly, then offered a bit of sisterly advice, “Remember, scheme responsibly.” Then she went on her not-so-merry way to class.</p><p> </p><p>Max settled onto his own bed with the book, a twisty feeling in his guts. <em> Research </em> , his least favorite part of magic. This was gonna suck, but he remembered that warm feeling in his heart when Zack called him smart, and he <em> really </em>wanted to feel it again.</p><p> </p><p>Zack made him feel <em> smart </em>. He made Max feel like more than he had thought he was, and the idea of getting off this damn cruise and losing that forever turned that warm feeling into a stone in his stomach. </p><p> </p><p>If research is what it took to hang onto this, to <em> Zack </em>, then he’d do it.</p><p> </p><p>Nearly four hours later, and he’d read the whole damn book and found nothing that suited his needs. Maybe there was something in one of the books back home, but… that wasn’t really going to be helpful, was it?</p><p> </p><p>He shut the book with a heavy thud, a horrible feeling of dread spreading through his body.</p><p> </p><p>The door opened, and when he looked up, it was Alex again, back form class. “Hey, any luck?”</p><p> </p><p>“None.” He massaged his forehead. He had a terrible headache coming on. “You don’t happen to have a way to get back home, do you?”</p><p> </p><p>Alex tilted her head at him, “You want to leave?”</p><p> </p><p>“I want to <em> stay!” </em> He whined. “I’m trying to find a way to go home, and come back <em> here </em>whenever I want.”</p><p> </p><p>“I have a spell for getting <em> home </em>, but not back. I used it to send Harper back yesterday.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hypothetically, could I use it on myself?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, you could, probably. I think so.” She frowned. “I have no idea, but on the plus side, if it doesn’t work on the caster it won’t <em> do </em>anything, so…”</p><p> </p><p>Max sat back down on his bed. “Teach it to me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, but you seriously owe me.” She flipped her hair over one shoulder. “It’s ‘<em> From East to West, this spell's no jest, wherever we roam, send me back home.’” </em></p><p> </p><p>Max scrambled to write it down in his phone. “Thanks, Alex. Now I just need to figure out how to get from home to here. How’d you get Harper here?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, that won’t work for you. I charmed my suitcase so she could hide inside.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Damnit.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Have you tried Justin?”</p><p> </p><p>Max scoffed. “You really think he’d help me with a <em> scheme?” </em></p><p> </p><p>“Probably not if you outright asked him, but he’s unwittingly helped me with schemes more times than you’d think.” She hopped up and snatched a little blue vial from her bag. It looked like dye. “Anyway, I’m gonna go do something you don’t want to know about.”</p><p> </p><p>“Does it involve me at all?”</p><p> </p><p>“Nope.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then have fun.”</p><p> </p><p>She left and Max set back to work. He looked back down at the book and opened to a random page. Maybe a second read would turn up something new and useful? The page he’d opened to was just a loose leaf piece of notebook paper left in the book. He didn’t look at it too closely the first read through, it was in Justin’s handwriting, so he assumed it was notes he took for wizarding school that just got left behind…</p><p> </p><p>But now, as Max really looked at it, he realized what it was.</p><p> </p><p><em> “‘Ex, ex, extra hand, take a stand, give us a hand.’” </em> Max read to himself in a whisper. This was that spell Justin created. It summoned a helping hand or something stupid like that…</p><p> </p><p>Max was angry at himself before he even officially thought <em> ‘hey maybe I should do this,’ </em> because he <em> knew </em> it was a terrible idea that would take <em> so much goddamn work… </em></p><p> </p><p>And yet? He was still gonna do it.</p><p> </p><p>Max was going to invent a spell.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. That Word</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Guess who's back, bitches! I got swamped with work and couldn't write for a bit, but I finally had a day off!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> <b>Zack Martin</b> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Zack hadn’t seen Max all morning, and he was trying not to let it bother him. He wasn’t <em> clingy. </em> He was just wondering where he was <em> and what he was doing, and also did he miss Zack? </em></p><p> </p><p>But then he bumped into Max’s older sister, Alex, and she was sneaking blue dye into the hot tub, and that was <em> exactly </em>his kind of prank, so he momentarily stopped worrying about where Max was.</p><p> </p><p>That was, until Max’s other sibling, Justin, got in the hot tub, came out blue, and Mr. Mosby blamed <em> Zack </em>. He made a run for it, and ended up at Max’s cabin door. He knocked. “Max, you here? Mr. Mosby’s after me, can I hide in your room?”</p><p> </p><p>There was a beat of silence, followed by a loud thud, then the door opened. “Hey, Zack, come in!” He did, and Max shut the door behind him. </p><p> </p><p>Max’s bed was covered in loose leaf notebook paper, most balled up and tossed aside. There was a small pile near the trash can, but it looked like Max only managed to get a few in the can.</p><p> </p><p>“What’re you working on? Homework?”</p><p> </p><p>Max shrugged. “Kind of? It’s really complicated, I can’t really explain it.” He shoveled as many of the non-trashed papers as he could into his arms and set them side, clearing space on the bed for Zack to sit down.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not great at homework, but I can try to help if you want?”</p><p> </p><p>Max shook his head. “No, I’ll figure it out, but thanks.” </p><p> </p><p>They sat beside each other on the bed. Max looked <em> exhausted </em> , completely beat from his work, and Zack felt the urge to help him <em> somehow. </em> He took one of Max’s hands in his and bumped their shoulders together playfully. “You need to take a break. Come on, I know a great spot.”</p><p> </p><p>Max gave his papers a miserable look, then nodded and let Zack pull him to his feet and drag him back out the door. “Where are we going, then?”</p><p> </p><p>“You’ll see, just look out for Mosby. If he catches me, he might just throw me overboard.”</p><p> </p><p>Max laughed. “Terrible way to die.”</p><p> </p><p>“Agreed.”</p><p> </p><p>Zack led him to the arcade, the neon light washing the entire room in pinks and blues and every other color.</p><p> </p><p>Max’s face lit up at the sight of it. “I didn’t know there was an arcade on this cruise!” He moved to the closest game to check it out.</p><p> </p><p>“Funny thing is, my first day on the ship, me and some of the others were in here when the sinking alarm went off, and we all thought the ship was going down because we missed the announcement that it was a drill.”</p><p> </p><p>Max’s face twisted in concern. “Wait, really?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not a big deal. We all lived.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wow, the bar is <em> so low.” </em></p><p> </p><p>Zack shrugged it off, grinning. “You’d be surprised how many times I’ve nearly died.”</p><p> </p><p>“Same, to be honest.” Max gravitated towards one of the arcade games, Dance Dance Revolution, and stepped onto the matt. It was a single player version. “I bet I can get a higher score than you.”</p><p> </p><p>“You <em> wish </em> .” Zack crossed his arms and leaned on the game beside it. “Go ahead, do your best, then I’ll <em> destroy </em>you.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re on.” Max dug into his pocket for his wallet.</p><p> </p><p>Zack stopped him with a hand on his wrist, pulling out his own wallet. “I’ll pay.” </p><p> </p><p>The faint dusting of red on Max’s cheeks made Zack’s heart stammer. “You don’t have to.”</p><p> </p><p>“I want to.” He held out a quarter. “It’s just a quarter, and it was my idea to begin with, so…”</p><p> </p><p>Max relented, taking the quarter. “Thanks.” He started the machine, and the game sprung to life.</p><p> </p><p>Max was quick on his feet, breezing through the game with ease. Zack wasn’t focused on the game though, he was watching the way Max moved. It was almost entirely unearned confidence that guided him through the steps, but <em> god, </em> why did Zack find that so attractive?</p><p> </p><p>Zack really wanted to kiss him again. No one else was around. The arcade was empty… he could do it, no one would know. He couldn’t get his body to move though. They were still in public, <em> anyone </em>could come in and see.</p><p> </p><p>Then Max stepped off the machine, his score flashing on the screen, but Zack didn’t care about that. Gathering his courage, he took Max’s hand. It wasn’t a kiss, it wasn’t what he really wanted, but it was all he was brave enough to do in public, and it made Max grin all the same.</p><p> </p><p>“You think you can beat that?” Max nodded towards the screen.</p><p> </p><p>Zack didn’t bother looking. He wasn’t interested in games anymore. “No, I don’t think I could, so I might as well just give you your prize now.” He tugged Max by the hand towards the door.</p><p> </p><p>Max let him, an eager smile on his face. “Where are we going now?”</p><p> </p><p>“Somewhere private.”</p><p> </p><p>They didn’t get more than ten steps out of the arcade before Alex came barreling down the hallway, looking panicked.</p><p> </p><p>Zack dropped Max’s hand like it had burned him, and tried to ignore the way Max flinched at it. <em> God </em>, he felt like an asshole.</p><p> </p><p>“Max!” Alex cheered at the sight of him, seeing her out. “I went that way, okay?” She pointed down the hallways, then ducked into the arcade instead.</p><p> </p><p>Then came Justin stomping down the hall after her, dyed blue up to his shoulders. He looked furious. “Where is she?”</p><p> </p><p>Max wordlessly pointed in the direction Alex <em> hadn’t </em>gone.</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks.” Justin pat Max on the shoulder as he went, leaving a blue hand print on his shirt.</p><p> </p><p>Max tsked, “Aww… I liked this shirt.”</p><p> </p><p>Alex slipped out of the arcade, grinning and giving Max a double thumbs up. “Relax, it’ll come out in the wash!” She didn’t slow down as she spoke, breezing past them, then sprinting down the hallway, far away from Justin.</p><p> </p><p>Zack just blinked after her. “...Your siblings are strange.”</p><p> </p><p>Max just shrugged. “Meh. Their drama kinda… soaks up all my parents’ attention, so it makes it <em>real </em>easy to get away with stuff like <em>this--” </em>He took Zack by the waist and kissed him softly, then pulled away grinning, “--with no one noticing.”</p><p> </p><p>Zack’s cheeks went hot. God, Max’s hands felt like they belonged on him. “I like your hands.”</p><p> </p><p>Max pulled a weird face, but didn’t let go of Zack. “Huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh god, Uh--,” Zack tried to hide his face in his hands. But standing almost chest to chest with Max made that difficult, so instead he hid his face in Max’s chest, which only made him blush further. <em> “--I was thinking about it and it just slipped out,” </em> he mumbled miserably.</p><p> </p><p>Max pulled back just enough to look critically at his one hand. “Thank you?”</p><p> </p><p>Zack gathered his courage and fully stepped out of Max’s space. “I’m gonna--, Uh, did you still want to…?” He gestured awkwardly down the hall, in the vague direction of his cabin.</p><p> </p><p>Max nodded eagerly. “Yeah, totally, let’s go.”</p><p> </p><p>The walk to Zack’s cabin was short, and the moment the door was shut behind them, Max dropped his phone, and when he moved to grab it, he accidentally kicked it under the desk.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, crap! Zack, could you get that for me?” Something in Max’s smile was off, but Zack just shrugged, and got on the floor to stick his hand under the desk.</p><p> </p><p>The phone was pretty far back there, but Zack got it with only a bit of a struggle. When he got back to his feet, Max was turning around from facing the door while stuffing something into his back pocket. Weird.</p><p> </p><p>“Got it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh! Thanks, Zack!” Max beamed and took the phone back.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, my roommate might--,”</p><p> </p><p>“He won’t.” Max sounded awfully sure about that, and it made Zack want to believe him.</p><p> </p><p>He stepped back into Zack’s space, and Zack let himself be guided back against the desk, Max’s arms caging him in on either side. Max kissed his cheek first, then the corner of his mouth… then finally his lips.</p><p> </p><p>Zack couldn’t help the noise he made at the contact, one hand immediately shooting up to the back of Max’s neck, pulling him closer. They were flush together, Max’s hands on him, right where they belong, and <em> good god, </em> how had Zack ever tricked himself into believing he was <em> straight? </em></p><p> </p><p>Max’s hands were gentle as they glided up his side, then back down and settling on the bottom of his shirt. His thumbs brushed over the exposed skin there, and as wonderfully, blissfully distracting as that was…</p><p> </p><p>Something Max said was bothering him.</p><p> </p><p>He planted a hand on Max’s chest and gently pushed him back just enough to speak. “Not that I’m not enjoying this, but can I ask you a question?”</p><p> </p><p>Max blinked at him. “Uh, yeah, what is it?”</p><p> </p><p>“What you said earlier about your siblings soaking up all the attention from your parents--,”</p><p> </p><p>Max stiffened under his hands, like a reflex, but he recovered quickly. “That’s not important,” He cracked a grin and shrugged it off, but that grin was nothing like the one Zack had grown to--, No. <em> No, </em> it’s far too early for <em> That Word. </em></p><p> </p><p>But it was different from the grin Zack knew. It wasn’t genuine. Max was hiding something, and he was leaning back in to kiss Zack again and brush the topic off for good, but Zack kept his hand firm on Max’s chest.</p><p> </p><p>“It is to me.”</p><p> </p><p>Max froze, and Zack watched that fake grin falter. “I…” He trailed off, looking almost lost.</p><p> </p><p>“Max, it’s okay if it hurts.” </p><p> </p><p>“It doesn’t!” Max immediately got defensive, pulling back from Zack. “I like it like that, they don’t notice me, so I can do whatever I want to.”</p><p> </p><p>Zack reached for Max’s hand, catching him just before he could slip out of reach. “My dad doesn't notice me either. He’s <em> barely </em> around. I see him like… three times a year, if I’m lucky. Christmas, me and Cody’s birthday, and <em> sometimes </em>mom’s birthday.” </p><p> </p><p>That got Max to look at him. “I’m sorry, that’s--,”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not about me.” Zack interrupted. “I’m telling you that so you know that I get it. It always seems like a blessing at first, because you can get away with <em> anything </em> and no one notices, but the tradeoff is they don’t notice the <em> good </em> things either.” He squeezed Max’s hand. “I was lucky, my mom was better about it than my dad, and my dad isn’t… <em> terrible </em>, he’s just absent, but the way you talked about it earlier…”</p><p> </p><p>Max stared at something over Zack’s shoulder, refusing to make eye contact. “My parents aren’t terrible either.”</p><p> </p><p>“But neither of them notice you, good or bad, and that <em> sucks </em> , and you don’t have to pretend you like it that way.” Max only shrunk in on himself further, so Zack added, “At the very least, you don’t have to pretend with <em> me </em>, okay?” He cupped Max’s cheek, guiding his face back to him. He kissed Max, soft and sweet.</p><p> </p><p>When Zack pulled back, Max melted into him, burying his face into the crook of Zack’s neck. He muttered, “Can you just hold me for a bit?”</p><p> </p><p>Zack figured that was as much of an admission he was right as he was going to get, so he wrapped his arms around Max’s middle. “Yeah, I can do that.”</p><p><br/><em> Good god </em> , Zack thought, he’d rather sit here and hug Max until he felt better than make out with him. That couldn’t be a good sign. Maybe it was time for <em> That Word. </em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Spite and Love, but Mostly Spite</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In whish Max invests a spell through the power of spite and teenage horniness.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Max Russo</b>
  </span>
</p><p> </p><p><em> Fuuuuuuuck, </em> Max was so far gone on this boy.</p><p> </p><p>Zack thought he was <em> smart </em> , and he <em> understood, </em> and Max hated it. He didn’t, not really, but he had never felt so <em> seen </em>as when Zack was telling him it was okay, and he didn’t have to pretend.</p><p> </p><p>It was a new feeling, to be seen, and it made Max nervous.</p><p> </p><p>And <em> fuck it, </em> Max wasn’t even sure he <em> knew </em>he was pretending until Zack said it was okay to stop.</p><p> </p><p>Zack was right.</p><p> </p><p>Max didn’t like it that way. He didn’t like his parents not noticing him. He could look back on things he’d done now and realize he did those things hoping to be caught.</p><p> </p><p>Max brought a <em> ‘friend’ </em> home last year and made out with him in his bedroom so someone would catch them. He was hoping to be <em> caught </em> , because being caught was easier than <em> explaining </em>. Everyone else was too busy because Alex used magic to get a boyfriend.</p><p> </p><p>He skipped class enough times for his teacher to call home so his parents would <em> have </em>to notice, but that voicemail got lost in a sea of voicemails about Alex’s detentions.</p><p> </p><p>He ditched his shift at the sub shop one day to make out with a boy, knowing they’d have to notice he was gone, but no one even mentioned it when he got home because Justin did god knows what and everyone was focused on <em> that </em>.</p><p> </p><p><em> Everything </em> he did was swallowed up by Alex and Justin, and he <em> hated </em>it.</p><p> </p><p>And he thought <em> maybe </em>he could be okay with hating it, instead of pretending the pros outweigh the cons.</p><p> </p><p>Max wanted to be noticed, and Zack gave him that, and all it did was refresh his determination to invent that stupid fucking spell. He wasn’t going to lose that one person on earth who made him feel <em> smart </em> and <em> seen. </em> He wasn’t. He wouldn’t accept that.</p><p> </p><p>Max threw himself back into work the moment he got back to his cabin, still feeling on the verge of tears, but it was… <em> angry </em> tears. He wasn’t sad. He was <em> furious </em>, and done pretending he wasn’t.</p><p> </p><p>The anger fueled his work though. He put it to good use, and thought he had a pretty solid spell worked out when Alex came bursting into the cabin maybe an hour after Max got back, so the anger was still sizzling under his skin. It had calmed since coming back to the cabin, but seeing the cause of his anger, Alex, brought it right back.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Justin’s not here, is he?” She glanced at the shut bathroom door, voice just above a whisper.</p><p> </p><p>“No.” It came out short, and clipped. Max didn’t even look up from his papers.</p><p> </p><p>“Any idea where he is?”</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t know, don’t care, your problem, not mine.”</p><p> </p><p>There was a beat of silence, then Alex asked, “What’s <em> your </em>issue? Can’t figure out the spell?” She gestured to the open spell book on his bed.</p><p> </p><p>Max grit his teeth. He really couldn’t deal with this right now. “That’s not the issue.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well you don’t have to be an asshole about it, Max. I’ve got issues too, you know. Justin’s been chasing me all day! You could at least <em> try </em> to be helpful--,”</p><p> </p><p>Max had his wand out before he really thought the idea through, but the words were out of his mouth, and it was too late to go back on it. <em> “ </em> <em> From East to West, this spell's no jest, wherever we roam, send Alex back home.” </em></p><p> </p><p>Alex’s eyes blew wide as the words processed for her. “Max, wait--!”</p><p> </p><p>It was too late. She vanished.</p><p> </p><p>Max didn’t let himself have a moment of regret though, he snatched up the paper he’d written his spell on, and recited, <em> “Away, away from her New York blues, get Alex back on that fucking cruise.” </em></p><p> </p><p>Sure enough, Alex reappeared, looking dazed. “What just…?”</p><p> </p><p>A small, victorious smile slid across Max’s face. He did it. He invented a spell through <em> spite </em>.</p><p> </p><p>And also maybe love, and mostly spite.</p><p> </p><p>“You were my test dummy.” He slammed the spell book shut with a heavy thud, hopped from his bed, and shoved it into Alex’s arms. “Thanks, <em> dummy.” </em></p><p> </p><p>Then he left without another word, his sister standing stunned in the cabin.</p><p> </p><p>Feeling a strange mix of victory, anger, and liberation, Max went in search of Zack. He found him at the slushie bar, which was mostly abandoned at this time of day. Max hopped onto a stool, grinning.</p><p> </p><p>Zack glanced him up and down. “Well, you’re in a much better mood.”</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t really explain what,” Max started, knowing his new spell was something Zack could never know about, even if his hard work was for <em> him, </em> “But something really good happened, and you’re the cause, and I want you to know that.”</p><p> </p><p>A steady blush rose in Zack’s cheeks, and he stopped cleaning the cup in his hands. “Oh, did… did you talk to your family about--,”</p><p> </p><p>“No.” Max shook his head. “But I’ve realized a lot about how I <em> actually </em>feel about it, and that’s thanks to you.”</p><p> </p><p>Zack glanced around at the empty bar. It was just the two of them. “My breaks in five. You wanna talk about it?”</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t go into detail.”</p><p> </p><p>Zack lowered his voice into a whisper. “Then do you want to make out about it instead?”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Fuck yes.” </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Note Taken; Be More Subtle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Whoops Zack came out</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Zack Martin</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em> Max </em> was laying on <em> Zack’s bed </em> , and Zack was o <em> n top on him, </em> and they were <em> kissing, </em> and oh <em> fuck </em> , if it wasn’t the <em> hottest </em> thing Zack had ever seen. Zack’s brain was broken, the only coherent thought it could supply him was <em> ‘Max is in my bed.’ </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max made a pitiful noise into Zack’s mouth, one hand curled in Zack’s hair. Zack felt as if he couldn’t survive this, like sheer <em> bliss </em>of it all would kill him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>How the <em> fuck </em>had he ever believed he was straight?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>How could anyone believe they weren’t attracted to guys when people like <em> Max Russo </em> existed?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He wanted to die kissing Max. If he had to die, that’s how he wanted to go. Zack was fairly sure he’d discovered heaven on Max’s lips and--,</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And the doorknob rattled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And Zack fell off the bed out of fear. <em> “Shit! </em> Woody’s back!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max sat up and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up further, but it was already beyond saving with the number Zack’s own hands had done to it. He didn’t look concerned, only mildly annoyed at the loss.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Zack, you gotta stop blocking this door! That’s a fire hazard.” It wasn’t Woody. It was Cody. That was so much worse.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack scrambled to his feet and did his best to fix his hair and clothes. They hadn’t gotten far enough for Zack to need to redress himself, but he’d certainly gotten… <em> ruffled </em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He looked to Max to check if he was ready. Max just adjusted his shift collar and shrugged, shifting into a cross legged position on the bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack opened the door, and gave Cody a big grin that was probably more suspicious than natural. “Hey! What’cha need?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Cody leaned to the side just enough to get a good look at Max. “I didn’t realize you had company.” He gestured back down the hall. “Should I come back later?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No,” Zack said at the same time Max said, <em> “Could you?” </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I can if you guys are busy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack shook his head. “No, it’s fine. What’s up?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Cody shrugged it off. “I mean, I just came to ask if you two patched things up.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, we did.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yep. Friends for life.” Zack adds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A phone chimed, and Zack turned just in time to see Max pull out his cellphone. He pulled a face. “Zack, I gotta go. My sister did something stupid.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack wanted to tell him to stay, but figured it was useless. As far as he could tell, Max usually stayed as far away from his sibling’s nonsense as he could, so if he was getting involved, it was for a reason… and the Teen Cruise would be over tomorrow. Max’s siblings would be leaving soon, so maybe that had something to do with it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was just thankful Max was staying. He didn’t know if he could take it if he discovered his sexuality, fell for a boy, then <em> never </em>saw that boy again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max paused in the doorway to give Zack a soft smile. “Text me later if you want to hang out.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He nodded. “I will.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was left alone with Cody, standing in the doorway, and Cody was staring after Max, a confused look on his face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What’s that face for?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Cody pursed his lips, and turned back to Zack. “Can I ask you something about--,”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I would really prefer you didn’t.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Can I ask anyway?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fine.” Zack sighed, and stepped aside to let Cody in, then shut the door behind them. He crossed his arms and stared at his shoes. “Ask.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Cody hesitated a moment, then finally said, “You’ve been hanging out with Max a lot.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, I have.” Zack tried not to sound so defensive, but it rose into his tone anyway. He really wasn’t ready to have this conversation, he wasn’t even sure what his label was yet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He still thought bisexual was most accurate, but was reluctant to say teh words, <em> ‘I’m bisexual.’ </em> It was a terrifying next step, and he wanted to look before he took it, if only to make sure he wasn’t stepping on a cliff.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And you two are…?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack wasn’t going to finish that sentence for him. “Say what you want to say, Cody.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Finally, Cody blurted out, “Are you two together?” When Zack didn’t answer right away, he added, “Romantically?” as if he thought Zack hadn’t caught his meaning at first.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack had a choice here; Lie, and keep things going like they were, or be honest, and change <em> everything </em> . He didn’t think Cody would react <em> badly </em>, but he didn’t really want to find out if he was right or not. He didn’t know what to do, honestly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Apparently, his silence answered for him, because Cody put a hand on his shoulder. “It doesn’t change anything between us, you’re still my brother, and I love you no matter who you love, okay?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I…” Zack sighed and let his shoulders slump. “I really needed to hear that, thank you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So you are then? With him?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack nodded, feeling small. “He’s my boyfriend. You can’t tell anyone though, especially not mom and dad.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I won’t, but you know mom and dad would be cool with it though, right? They’re both <em> theater majors.” </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to t<em> ell them.” </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright,” Cody starts, giving his brother a friendly punch to the shoulder. “Well, when you’re ready to tell them, I’ll help you do it if you want.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I might take you up on that offer.” Zack ran a hand through his hair. “...What gave us away?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Cody gave him a thoroughly unimpressed look. “Zack, your boyfriend flirted with me thinking I was you, and then you two were basically attached at the hip, and he looks at you like he’s a lost puppy. I’m your goddamn <em> twin </em>, it wasn’t hard to figure out.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack grimaced. “Note taken; be more subtle.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Mi Amor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Max Russo</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex and Justin were leaving.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Scratch that. They were </span>
  <em>
    <span>all</span>
  </em>
  <span> leaving, Max was just coming back. In secret.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He packed his bags with his siblings, got off the S.S. Tipton, and found his parents waiting for them on the dock.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His mother gave Alex a big hug, then Justin, then… ruffled Max’s hair and went straight back to asking Alex if she did her school work.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The difference was, this time, Max wasn’t pretending anymore. “Actually mom, can I have a hug too?” He had to raise his voice and speak </span>
  <em>
    <span>over </span>
  </em>
  <span>his mother to get her attention.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She stopped mid sentence and blinked at him, as if just realizing he was the only one she didn’t hug. “Oh, of course Niño. You only have to ask.” She pulled him into a hug, and Max’s heart swelled at the attention.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Then she pulled away and was right back to lecturing Alex as Justin eagerly tattled on her for the whole Harper thing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max checked his texts. He had a few random emojis from Zack, and he sent a few back, ending on a heart. No one asked why he was smiling at his phone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As far as Zack knew, Max was seeing his siblings off, but would be back as soon as he was done. It was almost the truth, but as far as his family knew, he was going home and staying there.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>God, this was going to be a mess, wasn’t it?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The drive home was short, only about thirty minutes… and the moment Max was in his bedroom, he dropped his luggage, shut and locked the door, and spelled himself back.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Away, away from my New York blues, get me back on that fucking cruise.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He reappeared in the janitor’s closet, like he had intended, thank god. The last thing he needed was to appear out of nowhere in front of a crowd.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max stumbled out, dusted himself off, and tucked his wand into his back pocket. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He could do this. He could be here and home year round. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>needed </span>
  </em>
  <span>to be. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>promised </span>
  </em>
  <span>Zack he would be.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He could do this.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He could </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>do this.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And maybe if he kept telling himself that, he’d believe it one day!</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max got out his phone and texted Zack, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Back on board. Wanna hang out?’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He got back an ominous, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Yeah. We need to talk.’</span>
  </em>
  <span> Then before he could spiral too far in his anxiety, he got a second text, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘I just realized how that sounds, and I promise I’m not breaking up with you.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max let out a breath of relief and texted back, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘thank god. See you in 5?’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack sent a thumbs up emoji in response.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max was at Zack’s door as quick as he could be, and Zack suspiciously opened it at the first knock, like he’d been waiting by the door.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey Za--,”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I came out to Cody.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It took a second to Max to comprehend what he just said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack was standing there, looking a bit frazzled, and wide eyed, and unhinged, and apparently he had come out to his twin brother.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Did it go… well?” Max assumed no, based on the state Zack was in.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No, it went well!” Zack waved him in, and shut the door behind him. “It went really well! I’m just spiraling.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max took Zack’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. “What’re you spiraling about?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It occurred to me maybe I should have </span>
  <em>
    <span>asked you</span>
  </em>
  <span> before I told Cody, since this is kinda a shared secret, and I’m spiraling about </span>
  <em>
    <span>that.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.” Max gave him a sympathetic look. “I’m not </span>
  <em>
    <span>mad</span>
  </em>
  <span>, or anything. If you trust Cody, I do too.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack’s shoulder relaxed a degree. “So we’re good?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max answered him with a kiss, soft and chaste. “We’re better than good. Alex and Justin are both </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and to be honest, I’m kind of riding on this high of not being completely eclipsed by them since they aren’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>here.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack raised an eyebrow at him. “Enjoying the spotlight?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max kissed him again, backing Zack up against the desk and caging him in with his arms. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Yes,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> He exhaled, feeling breathless, “And right now I really want all your attention.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The corners of Zack’s mouth turned up, and he arched into Max, one hand tangling in Max’s brown curls. “Babe, you already have it.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The </span>
  <em>
    <span>babe</span>
  </em>
  <span> made Max’s heart flutter, and he desperately wanted to give Zack a cute pet name too. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Unlike Alex, he and Justin had picked up more Spanish from their mother. He wouldn’t call himself fluent, not like his mom, but… He knew enough to understand what she was saying and hold a decent conversation with her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So Max leaned in to whisper in Zack’s ear, “Mi amor,”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack shuttered. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Fuck,</span>
  </em>
  <span> please call me that for the rest of my life.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max couldn’t help the little laugh that escaped him, “Mi amor,” he repeated against Zack’s lips, before kissing him again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t know you knew spanish.” Zack said when Max pulled away, face bright red, and voice a bit shaky.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max shrugged, “It’s hard to tell by just looking at me, but I’m half Mexican on my mom’s side.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack hopped up to sit on the desk. “What about your dad’s side?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Italian.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Really?” Zack reached out and took Max’s by the shirt collar, pulling him closer again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max let himself be pulled back in, pecking Zack on the lips. “What about you?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m all Boston, baby.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The door swung open, and Max momentarily cursed himself. Zack was so freaked out about coming out to his brother, Max totally forgot to spell the door! But in walked Cody, who blinked at them in surprise. They must’ve been quite the sight. Zack sitting on the desk, and Max all pressed against him…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, I can come back later.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max sighed and peeled himself away from Zack’s body. “It’s okay. Come in.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Cody shut the door behind him. “Zack told me about the whole…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I told him you know already,” Zack assured Cody.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, it’s nice to officially meet my boyfriend’s brother.” Max offered a hand to shake, and Cody took it. “Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve had a boyfriend whose family knew I existed at all.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s depressing,” Cody grimaced.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I know it is.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Within a week, Max fell into a routine. He’d spent his morning at home, eat breakfast, go to school, pop over to have lunch with Zack, and pop back home to finish the school day. Then he’d make an excuse to disappear for a few hours, like hanging out with a friend, or being involved in an after school thing… not that he ever had to use the excuses. Usually by the end of the school day Alex had gotten herself into some kind of trouble, and it was easy to slip out unnoticed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max still felt bitter about that, to be honest. He wanted </span>
  <em>
    <span>someone </span>
  </em>
  <span>to ask him where he was going all day, but no one ever did. At the very least, he had stopped lying to himself. It wasn’t a blessing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Around the start of the second week, Cody began to hang out with him and Zack sometimes. They’d play video games, or get slushies, or one time Zack and Max teamed up to absolutely </span>
  <em>
    <span>devastate </span>
  </em>
  <span>Cody at luggage cart racing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And as much as Max loved having Zack all to himself, he also loved that Cody was being supportive and he knew it meant the world to Zack… so if Max had to share Zack every now and then, that was fine by him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>By week three, Zack and Cody had introduced him to their friends as </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Our good pal, Max.’</span>
  </em>
  <span> Which was true for Cody, he supposed. It was fine, it stung a little, because it always did, but Max trusted Zack. Zack would tell them when he was ready.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Besides, Max was still getting a feel on Zack’s friends. London seemed like she might turn her nose up at a queer couple. Woody, he couldn't get a real read on, but he seemed chill overall.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The farm girl, Bailey, made him a bit nervous. It was only common sense to be wary about people from bible thumping country, and she... s</span>
  <em>
    <span>tared at him. A lot.</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They’d go for slushies, and Max would look over… and there she was, staring at him over her own drink, a critical look in her eyes. Like he was a puzzle she was trying to piece together.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>One day, the whole group found themselves in Zack and Woody’s cabin. It was Cody and Bailey’s idea, they knew their friends weren’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>great</span>
  </em>
  <span> in school, and had offered to do some tutoring. The rest had only agreed because semester finals were approaching, and Max had only gone because Zack was going, and… well, Max enjoyed his company.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Not to mention Max had discovered something Zack loved… Max, in his bed. So Max spread his own homework out on Zack’s bed, and sat cross legged. Now he had both Zack </span>
  <em>
    <span>and </span>
  </em>
  <span>Bailey staring at him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Cody leaned over Max’s shoulder to check his work. He was the only one who wasn’t working on the same worksheet, since he wasn’t in their class. Hell, he wasn’t even supposed to be on this ship.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Cody gave a little frown, and Max resisted the urge to shrink in on himself. He already felt stupid, but Cody just said, “You didn’t show all your work.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I did it in my head.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There was a beat of silence, then Cody pat him on the shoulder. “Max, how would you add six and eight in your head. Describe the process for me.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Just do it. I promise I’m not making fun of you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay…” Max trailed off, feeling put on the spot and far too watched. He stared at his paper to avoid looking at anyone, knowing at the very least, Cody, Bailey, and probably Zack too were all watching him. “6+4=10, and 8-4=4, so I’d add 10+4 to get 14.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He risked a glance up, and Bailey was giving him a thoroughly confused look. “Why’d you add like that? It’s just 6+8=14, you don’t need all those extra steps.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Cody just shrugged, looking pleased with himself. “It’s because he has ADHD,”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry, what?” Max gawked at him. “No I don’t!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Cody gave him a sympathetic look. “Shifting numbers around in their heads to get numbers easier to add is how people with ADHD do math.” He sat on the bed beside Max and pointed at the limited amount of work he’d actually shown. “The numbers in your work didn’t match the ones in the actual problem, so it wasn’t hard to figure out what you were doing in your head. You’re probably just undiagnosed.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Fuck,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Max didn’t have any other coherent thoughts over than </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe you should get diagnosed, dude. I’ve been on adderall for years, and it does wonders,” Woody added.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Um,” Max slowly started gathering his things in his arms. “I’m gonna go call my parents.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you okay?” Zack caught him by the wrist before he could get to the door.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m fine. I’ll be back.” Then Max hurried out the door. He found the janitor’s closet and slipped inside, spelling himself home. He reappeared in his bedroom. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max went in search of his parents, and found his mother cooking in the kitchen, his father hovering around her asking when dinner would be ready. He slammed his hands on the kitchen island to get their attention, and asked, frantic, “Is it possible I have ADHD?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They both blinked at him. “I mean… maybe?” His mother shrugged, and went back to stirring her pot.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His father considered for a moment. “I wouldn’t doubt it.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I wanna get tested.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, Niño…” His mother cooed. “That cost money.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“There might be a spell for it.” His father suggested, but the way his eyes were glued to the food, Max knew he wasn’t planning to go search for the spell anytime soon…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So instead, Max stormed into the lair, grabbed an armful of spellbooks, and was about to get to searching when he got a text.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was from Zack. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Babe, are you coming back soon? Is everything okay?’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <span>Max sighed and glanced between the books and his phone. The spell could wait a bit longer, he supposed. He texted back, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘yeah, mi amor, I’ll be back in a minute.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. That Word, Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Come on, you HAD to know I was gonna have Zack find out about Magic. This isn't a shock.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> <b>Zack Martin</b> </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack really liked how things were turning out. He and Max had been dating for about two months now, and Max fit in seamlessly with his friends. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, <em> almost </em> seamlessly. He couldn’t figure out what Bailey’s problem was. She hadn’t voiced any complaints, or said anything rude, but she just… stared. A lot. She was always giving Max a weird look, and when Max excused himself to go to the bathroom, Bailey looked like she was seriously considering <em> following </em>him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To the bathroom.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So when they were drinking slushies at the bar, and Max excused himself… and Bailey stood up, Zack caught her arm.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What’s your issue with him?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t have an issue, I have <em> suspicions </em>.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh what?” Cody looked up from his own drink.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bailey pursed her lips, reluctant to answer, then sighed, sat back down, and said, “Okay hear me out… I’ve been doing some snooping--,”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We noticed.” Woody muttered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She shot him a stern look, and Woody went quiet. “--and I don’t think he’s supposed to be on this ship.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re crazy.” Zack waved it off.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No! I’m serious!” She pointed in the direction of the bathrooms, where Max had gone. “We’ve been his friends for like two months now, and he’s never even let us in his cabin! I don’t even know where his cabin<em> is!” </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That doesn’t mean he’s a stowaway.” Cody said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He spends <em> all </em>his time in Zack and Woody’s room. He practically lives there.” She pointed out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack didn’t correct her to <em> why </em> Max was doing that, but Cody gave him a knowing look.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And He avoids Mr. Mosby like the plague, and <em> none </em> of the teachers know who he is, so he’s not just <em> ‘in another class’ </em> like he said, and I saw him sneaking into the janitor’s closet, and when I went to confront him, he was <em> gone! </em> He just <em> vanished!” </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You probably just didn’t see him leave.” Cody shrugged and took another sip from his slushie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bailey gave him a fierce look. “I never took my eyes off the door. If he left, I would have seen him. The closet was empty, he wasn’t there.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“None of this spells <em> ‘stowaway.’” </em> Zack shook his head at her. “You’re just crazy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t forget <em> I </em> wasn’t really supposed to be here either! I might’ve signed on under a fake name but I was hiding too, I know what hiding looks like, and <em> Max is--,” </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey guys.” Max was standing behind them, a clueless smile on his face. “What’d I miss?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In unison, they all looked to Bailey. She shrunk under their gazes and said, “Nothing important.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And Zack ignored it. He brushed it off, and forgot it ever happened, but then halfway through the third month, he was walking back to his cabin when he saw Max slip into the janitor’s closet. He wasn’t going to ask, but a bright light shone under the door, then vanished. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack sighed, knowing he’d probably look just as crazy as Bailey, but he opened the door… and Max wasn’t there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A strange sort of frantic panic washed over him, and Zack shut the closet door behind him to search for some kind of secret entrance. He pushed shelves aside, checked the floorboards, and even the ceiling, but found nothing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em> Fuck. </em> Maybe Bailey was right?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He pulled out his phone to text Max. <em> ‘Hey, where are you?’ </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>A few seconds later he got a response. <em> ‘My cabin. Why? Did we have something planned?’ </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack had never been to Max’s cabin, and at first he thought nothing of it, but now… <em> ‘Can I come over?’ </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>He watched the little dots on the screen for a long moment before, <em> ‘No, I’ll come to your’s.’ </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack frowned. This was <em> weird. Too weird. It was--, </em> What had he been thinking about again?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He blinked a haziness out of his eyes, like a bright light had blinded him, but he didn’t remember seeing one. When his vision cleared, he and Max were standing in a… a closet? That was a little on the nose, wasn’t it? How did he even get here?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max was holding something, a white stick of some kind. He looked <em> horrified </em>. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack just stared at him, confused. “How did we get in a closet? What happened? Are you okay?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I--,” Max cut himself off, his voice shaking almost as much as his hands. “I didn’t mean to.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mean to what?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It was reflex.” He held the stick to his chest, and looked as if he might<em> cry. </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re not making any sense.” Zack reached for him, to wipe the tears away, but Max shrunk back from his touch.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m <em> so </em>sorry.” Then Max was fumbling with the door knob, desperate to get out, but it wouldn't open. He stopped, then gave Zack a wide eyed look. “Did you… not use the door stop?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t even remember coming in here!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max winced. “Right. Sorry. The uh… the door gets stuck if you don’t use the door stop.” He gestured to the floor, where a little rubber door stop sat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So we’re stuck in a closet?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max nodded, looking absolutely miserable. “Pretty ironic, huh?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack took his hand and pulled Max closer to him. “Then you have plenty of time to explain what just happened.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max wouldn’t look at him. “I can't.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I promise I won’t judge.” Zack made a big show of crossing his fingers over his heart.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max seemed to consider for a long moment, then his shoulders slumped in defeat. “I can get us out of here, but it’s gonna take a lot of explaining after.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack stepped into Max’s space, put his hands on his shoulders, and pulled him down just enough to kiss his forehead. “I trust you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That only seemed to make Max look <em> more </em>miserable. He sighed, wrapped an arm around Zack’s waist, and held up that little white stick again. “This can be pretty disorienting your first time, so if you throw up, I’m not judging, but please aim away from me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay, <em> now </em>I’m worried.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You probably should be. <em> Threemetris Movetris.” </em> The tip of his stick glowed, then Zack felt blinded by light again. When his vision cleared he was in the hallway, outside the janitor’s closet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I… how did you...?” He stepped out of Max’s space, and almost immediately tripped. He felt like he’d been sitting down for too long, then stood up too fast.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you gonna throw up?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack doubled over, bracing himself on his knees. “Maybe? I dunno.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max placed a gentle hand on his back. “Zack, I really hate to ask you this, but you have two choices here… Either I explain everything to you, and you have to keep it all a secret, or I erase your memory, but you have to make a decision <em> now </em>, because the spell only works on recent memories.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em> Spell?” </em> Zack croaked. “Like, <em> magic?” </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is this you choosing the first option?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack hesitated for only a moment, then nodded. “Yes. Tell me everything.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Let’s go somewhere private.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They went back to Zack’s cabin, and Max promptly pointed his stick<em> --wand?-- </em>at the door and said, “Key in my pocket, only I can unlock it,” then he set the wand down on the desk, like one might a loaded weapon. “Woody won’t interrupt us now.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em> That </em> explained a lot. No wonder Max was never worried about getting walked in on.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So you’re… what? A <em> wizard?” </em> He meant it as a joke, but Max didn’t laugh.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh.” Zack needed to pace. He couldn’t handle this if he wasn’t moving.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Listen, I…” Max started, but then rephrased, “Magic is real. People who can use magic are called wizards. Think of us like… a different breed of human. Like, you’re a golden retriever, and I’m… a poodle,” after a moment, he added, “Who can do magic.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack gaped at him. “And--, wait, so… what were you doing in the janitor’s closet?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max shuffled his feet awkwardly. “I was going home, to New York.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And <em> fuck </em> that hurt. Max was going to <em> leave? </em> Without a word to him?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You weren’t even gonna say goodbye?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max startled. “What? No! Zack,” He pushed off the desk and took Zack’s hands. “I’m not supposed to be here! I was supposed to leave with Alex and Justin, my family doesn’t even know I’m <em> here! </em>I’ve been magic-ing myself back and forth from New York to the S.S. Tipton for months because I didn’t want to lose you!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hold up.” Zack felt like he should pull away, but he didn’t want to let go of Max’s hands. “So you… you’re a wizard, and wizards are real, and magic is real, and you’ve been using it to, what? Date me?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max flushed bright red and averted his eyes. “You’re the first boyfriend I’ve had that I thought I could…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Could what?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fall in love with.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack’s heart stammered in his chest. It was the first time either of them used <em> That Word. </em> “You love me?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max only managed a nod, staring at his shoes, hands in his pockets. Then he offered by way of explanation, “I didn’t want to lose you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack decided to table that for now. “Back in the janitor’s closet… you wiped my memory?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max shrunk in on himself. “It was reflex. I’m so fucking sorry, Zack. I saw a person who definitely saw <em> me </em> , and I reacted before realizing it was <em> you </em>. If I knew it was you… I never would have done that.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know that implies you <em> definitely </em> would have done it to <em> other people, </em> right?” Zack wasn’t sure how he felt about Max wiping people’s memories. It didn’t sit right with him. “Promising you won’t do something bad to someone you care about, but doing it to others is still… kinda shitty, Max.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know!” Max covered his face with his hands. “I don’t <em> like </em> wiping people’s memories! But I <em> have </em> to do it! Magic is supposed to be a secret!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why though? Why does it have to be a secret?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max uncovered his face. There were tears gathering in his eyes. “Non-wizards don’t react well to us. After the Salem Witch Trials, it became the norm to keep everything very… <em> secretive.” </em> When Zack said nothing, Max continued. “We might be powerful, but we’re outnumbered. Your kind has a couple <em> thousand </em> for every <em> one </em>of mine, and most of us aren’t even strong enough to defend ourselves. We’re not fighters! I don’t know any attack spells!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack took a second to process that. “You’re… afraid of being hunted down?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened,” Max admitted. “Very few humans know we exist, and I want to trust you with this, Zack, but I need to know you won’t tell anyone.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack knew what his answer would be before even thinking about it. Max looked so small, and terrified, and Zack wanted to fight anyone who made him feel so vulnerable. He cupped Max’s face, “Max, I’d never do anything to hurt you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max sniffled, and wiped at his eyes. “I’m sorry I lied to you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I understand why you did it. I forgive you.” Zack kissed him, and it tasted like salt and tears, but Max clung to him like a lifeline, and Zack never wanted him to let go.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max pulled back first, seemingly relaxed a bit, but there was still a hint of worry in his eyes. “So you won’t tell anyone? Not even Cody?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I promise. I’ve kept plenty of shit from Cody before. What’s one more secret?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That drew a short laugh from Max. “It’s a pretty big secret.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I can handle it.” He gave Max a playful punch to the shoulder. “And besides, I’m totally gonna abuse your power.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max rolled his eyes fondly. “I figured. What do you want to do first?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That was a daunting question. “Uh… I dunno. What <em> can </em>you do?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Max offered him a hand, and picked up his wand with the other. “How about we go get lunch?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That’s not very magical.” Zack took his hand anyway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“In New York,” Max added with a grin. “I told you, my family owns a sandwich shop. Let’s drop by.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zack gasped. “Oh my god, do I get to see your house? Your <em> bedroom?” </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, you <em> definitely </em>get to see my bedroom.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. They Can't Ignore What's Been Said To Their Face</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hey bitches I'm not dead</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Max Russo</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack knowing was a blessing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He could appear in Zack’s cabin, instead of the janitor’s closet, and Max could entertain Zack with all kinds of tricks, like bringing pictures to life, or breathing underwater! Zack seemed to love all of it, and he always seemed to find new ways to cause trouble with Max’s magic… but Max was all too willing to go along with Zack’s pranks.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And best of all? He could bring Zack home with him! They hung out in Max’s bedroom, mostly, knowing if Alex or Justin recognized him it’d be difficult to explain.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It’d been a few more months since Zack discovered the truth, and Max had been doing a damn good job at keeping everything a secret. His family hadn’t noticed his double life yet. To be honest, they probably wouldn’t unless Max straight up told them.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Which he was seriously considering. Kind of. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He’d been toying with the idea of coming out for a month or so. Max knew he was in love with Zack, and he didn’t want it to be a secret. Hell, they’d even told their friends! London, Woody, and even Bailey handled it fairly well. They weren’t… perfect, but they were decent.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>London needed the concept of two guys dating explained to her, but she got there in the end.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And Max figured his family could get there in the end too.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But that’s not all that’s improved. Turns out, this is actually a spell for diagnosing mental disorders and illnesses! And as suspected, Max had ADHD. After getting diagnosed, it was easy to get on medication, and with Cody and Bailey’s study group… his grades had improved.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He went from a straight F student to a C and B student within a few months, and his teachers were ecstatic! But his parents… hadn’t noticed. They stopped checking his grades years ago when they realized the only thing he was bringing home was F’s.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Although, his grades weren’t the only thing to improve on his medication. He finally felt like he understood how his brain worked, and why he is the way he is. As it turned out, having someone or something say to you, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘you’re not stupid, this is why you are the way you are, it’s not your fault,’</span>
  </em>
  <span> was one of the most healing experiences in his life.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It felt like he spent his entire life looking at puzzle pieces, trying to fit them together, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally </span>
  </em>
  <span>he got to look at the picture on the box. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Finally </span>
  </em>
  <span>he knew what these puzzle pieces, these symptoms, added up to.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max felt more like himself than he ever had before. For the first time in his life, he felt comfortable in his own head…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Life was good. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Max </span>
  </em>
  <span>was good. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Zack</span>
  </em>
  <span> was fucking great.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He was on his bed, with Zack pinning him down by the wrists and kissing his neck, making him squirm. Max knew he was making all kinds of needy noises, but that only seemed to encourage Zack. One hand boldly slipped up Max’s shirt, feeling the skin there, and he let it happen.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Zack,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> He exhaled, arching into his touch.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>For a guy who didn’t know he was queer a few months ago, Zack was awfully quick on the uptake. He touched Max like it was the only thing that made sense to him, and that left Max’s head spinning every time.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Say it,” Zack asked, right against his ear.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max knew exactly what he meant. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Mi amor.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack gave a pleased noise and went back trailing sweet kisses down his neck and jaw.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max was fairly sure Zack had no idea what </span>
  <em>
    <span>mi amor </span>
  </em>
  <span>meant, afterall, he knew one word of Spanish, and he learned it from fucking Uno… but Max didn’t care. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>loved </span>
  </em>
  <span>the way Zack reacted to it everytime like it was the first time.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But then Zack’s phone was beeping, and he was pulling back to check it. He sighed, disappointed. “I need to get back.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max whined and pushed himself up on his elbows to claim another kiss. “Please stay?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You know I want to, but I’ve got work.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack moved to climb off Max and ready himself to leave, but Max caught his wrist. “Before I send you back, uh…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I think I’m gonna come out to my family.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack’s eyes went wide. “Wait, really?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max let go of his wrist to rub the back of his neck self consciously. “Yeah… I think I’m ready.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you want help?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max shook his head. “No, </span>
  <em>
    <span>mi amor,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but thank you. I think I need to do this part myself.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack leaned back down to kiss his forehead. “I love you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I love you too.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max sent him back with his spell, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Away, away from his New York blues, get Zack back on that fucking cruise,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>then pocketed his wand. He hadn’t really explained to Zack the lengths he went to to keep seeing him. He never flat out said he </span>
  <em>
    <span>invented a spell, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and he wasn’t eager to have that conversation. It’d be damn embarrassing…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He went in search of Alex, before he lost the nerve. Max figured she’d be the easiest to tell. He knew she often fell in with a queer crowd, and had hung out with non-straight friends before. She would be easy.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It didn’t feel easy.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He found her in the lair with Harper, one of their dad’s spell books open on the table. Both girls looked up at him in unison.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Get out. We’re doing stuff you don’t want to know about.” Alex pointed at the door.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you pause it for a second? I’ve got something to say.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex and Harper exchanged glances, then Alex bookmarked the page, shut the book, and gestured for him to continue, although she didn’t look very interested. “Go on.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max took a deep breath, summoned back some of that fury of being ignored for courage, and declared, “I’m gay.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Harper was stunned into silence.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex took a second to let the words sink in, then said, “Okay. Mood.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max blinked at her. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Mood?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, mood, but like… </span>
  <em>
    <span>both?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you saying you’re bi?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“To be honest, I thought you already knew that,” She shrugged.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I did,” Harper muttered, sparing Alex a glance that implied </span>
  <em>
    <span>just how well </span>
  </em>
  <span>she knew it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay! That’s my cue to leave!” Max spun on his heels and stalked towards the door, only pausing long enough to say, “And don’t tell anyone else, I’m gonna tell them myself.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex was already going back to her scheming, book in hand. Half heartedly she waved goodbye, not paying any attention. “Ohay, have fun, love you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Justin was next. With how smoothly telling Alex went, he thought he had the emotional energy to tell him too. Max found Justin in the shop, cleaning tables. The lunch rush had ended, and it was mostly empty.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey.” Max walked right up to him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hm?” Justin looked up from his work. “Oh, hey.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m gonna say something and you’re gonna listen without interrupting.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Justin narrowed his eyes at Max susipiously, then rested his towel over his shoulder. “Okay. Shoot.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max took another deep breath to steady himself, and found the words came easier the second time. “I’m gay.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh!” Justin’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, really.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well… what made you tell me now?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max chewed the inside of his cheek. “I was just ready.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Um, how long have you known?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max shrugged. “I dunno, since I was twelve-ish? It wasn’t really a secret. I barely tried to hide it, you just didn’t… notice.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh. Was I supposed to?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max grimaced. “Would have made this easier if you did, to be honest.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Do mom and dad know?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No. Not yet. Don’t tell them. I’m gonna do it myself.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Justin nodded along like he understood, but Max had a feeling he didn’t. “Sure thing.” He gestured like locking his lips and throwing away the key… and if Max had been more like Alex, he would have made fun of Justin for that.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max rolled his eyes and headed upstairs to the apartment. He honestly wasn’t sure if he wanted to tell his parents today too. Alex and Justin felt like… </span>
  <em>
    <span>enough </span>
  </em>
  <span>for now. He didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>have </span>
  </em>
  <span>to do it all at once. They could wait.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But Max was already standing in the living room, and his dad was watching tv while his mother read a book at the dinner table… and neither of them even glanced up from what they were doing to acknowledge him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max wanted to get their attention and say </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span> but the words didn’t come.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After a long moment, he managed to get out, “Hey, I-,”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Then Alex came sneaking up the stairs holding a--, a pink dollhouse? She moved to sneak up to her bedroom, but both their parents looked up at once, like they had some kind of spidey sense for Alex’s nonsense.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What’re you doing?” Their mother narrows her eyes at Alex.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, I was just cleaning out the basement and I found my old dollhouse, and I was gonna donate it to a charity.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh that’s nice sweetie,” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex beamed, having gotten away with </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span>, then sprints up the stairs.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max frowns as she goes, but take the opportunity to say, “So I wanted to--,”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait a minute! Alex doesn’t clean!” His dad gasped, hoping from the couch. He made frantic eye contact with his wife, and they both went chasing after Alex… leaving Max alone in the living room.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“...Great.” The anger and bitterness came seeping back in, and Max really didn’t want to be at home right now, so he pulled out his wand, and spelled himself back onto the S.S. Tipton.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He appeared in Zack’s room and launched directly into a rant, pacing the room. “They are so infuriating! I was trying to come out to my parents, and they got distracted by Alex </span>
  <em>
    <span>again!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Like, can they just </span>
  <em>
    <span>listen </span>
  </em>
  <span>for once?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack, sitting on his bed, patiently shuts his laptop. “So it didn’t go well, then?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Alex and Justin took it pretty well, and Alex is bi apparently, but my parents can’t pay me two minutes of attention to hear the words </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘I’m gay!’”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay,” Zack begins, setting his laptop aside and making grabby hands at Max. “Come here.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max does as he’s asked, and Zack pulls him onto the bed, wrapping his arms around Max’s middle in a huge. Admittedly, it does make him feel a bit better.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Clearly you’re too angry and stressed out right now… let’s just calm down, and take a deep breath, and once you have a clear head, we can talk about it.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max nodded and let himself melt into the hug, resting his forehead on Zack’s shoulders. “Thanks.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Just breathe with me, okay?” Zack took a deep breath, and Max copied him… in and out… in and out…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It felt like taking a pot of boiling water off a hot stove. It stopped boiling, but it was still burning hot. He was still angry, but he was calm now too.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Better?” Zack asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max nodded and pulled back from the hug. “Yeah.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“So let’s focus less on the problem and more on the solution, okay? What do you </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>to happen here?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I want them to </span>
  <em>
    <span>notice me.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” His voice cracked, but that didn’t stop him from continuing. “I want to come out to them without getting interrupted, or sidelined, or ignored.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack takes his hand and squeezes comfortingly. “And what can we do to make that happen?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing I’ve tried has worked.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Then we’re gonna do something you haven’t tried.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Like what?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Like…” Zack trailed off, considering, then said decidedly, “We’re gonna straight up </span>
  <em>
    <span>force them</span>
  </em>
  <span> to notice.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“How do we do that?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re gonna tell them. They can't ignore what's been said to their face."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Bailey Says I told You So</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Wow, would you look at that... I'm not dead!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Zack Martin</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max had made a habit of spelling himself into Zack’s cabin unannounced. Zack wasn’t against it, per say, but it seemed a bit reckless to magically appear out of thin air without texting to ask if he was alone or not. Zack was a fairly reckless guy himself, but he was also an expert trouble maker, and he could already see how easy it would be to get caught like this.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>All it would take would be Max spelling himself into the cabin while Woody was there, and the secret would be blown! He was shocked it hadn’t happened already, but thank god, Woody didn’t actually spend much time in their cabin. He had other shit to do, apparently.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But of course, </span>
  <em>
    <span>of course,</span>
  </em>
  <span> it had to happen one day. Zack fully expected it to be Woody who saw.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was Bailey, because apparently she hadn’t dropped the whole </span>
  <em>
    <span>he’s a stowaway </span>
  </em>
  <span>thing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But, like… was she wrong? No. Max technically was stowing away.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He was part-time stowing away, and part-time in New York, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>still.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Cody and Bailey were in Zack’s cabin with him, talking about nothing, really. It was idle chatter while Cody and Zack waited for their shifts to start. Bailey was just hanging around. Then Cody’s phone went off, and he excused to himself to head off for his shift, which started a bit for Zack’s.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bailey didn’t leave with him, she instead waited for the door to shut behind Cody, and turned her full attention to Zack. She had that look on her face, the one she gets when she’s determined to get an answer. “Zack…” She began, crossing one leg over the other. “Quick question about your boyfriend.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack groaned. Part of him deeply regretted telling the others about that, because it resulted in both a lot of teasing, and a lot of questions. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Never ending questions.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bailey ignored his displeasure and carried on, “Are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>sure </span>
  </em>
  <span>he’s not a stowaway?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you drop this, please? You’ve been nagging about it for months!” Zack grabbed his laptop off his desk and settled back on his bed with it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She bristles defensively, “Hey! I’m not saying I would like… rat him out, I just wanna know, okay? Is he safe? Where is he sleeping? Do his parents know where he is?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“They know exactly where he is because they signed him up for this cruise and he’s supposed to be here. He’s safe. He sleeps in his cabin. Okay?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bailey pursed her lips, not satisfied with that answer. “Where is his cabin then? What’s the room number? Why hasn’t he ever invited us over?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s invited </span>
  <em>
    <span>me </span>
  </em>
  <span>over,” Zack snapped back. “He just hasn’t invited </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and maybe that’s because </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>treat him like a criminal!” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She winced at that. “I--, oh.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack felt a little victorious surge in his chest, and he straightened his back. “Yeah. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Finally he felt like Bailey was ready to drop it and leave Max alone… and then Max appeared out of thin air directly in front of Bailey.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He launches into a rant immediately, oblivious, “So I’ve been thinking about how we can get my parents to--,”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack, shell shocked, pointed behind Max. “Dude.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max blinked at him, then furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“How… How did you just--,” Bailey stammers out, eyes blown wide.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max startled and whipped around to face her, wand in hand. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fucking hell,”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I told you to give me some warning first, babe. I warned you something like this would happen.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max gave him an adorable pout, “Is </span>
  <em>
    <span>now </span>
  </em>
  <span>the time for </span>
  <em>
    <span>I told you so</span>
  </em>
  <span>’s?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Just saying.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bailey shot from her chair and moved behind it, like she might use it as a shield. “Someone better start explaining!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max grimanced, and gave Zack a look. “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>could </span>
  </em>
  <span>erase her memory.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You said you didn’t like doing that.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>to!” He whined, gesturing at Bailey, “But I don’t have a whole lot of choices!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Erase my memory?” Bailey gawked, then put up both fists. “I’ll knock you the fuck out, Max, don’t mess with me! I’ve wrestled hogs into submission, and I’ll gladly do it to you!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max gave Zack another pleading look, hoping for any kind of help, but Zack just shrugged. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You did this to yourself, babe, but I’ll support whatever choice you make.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max’s shoulders slumped. “Ugh, fine, okay.” He turned to Bailey, “Listen to me, I’m not gonna hurt you.” He slipped his wand into his back pocket. “Or erase your memory, but I need to know I can trust you not to tell anyone what you just witnessed.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t even know what I just witnessed!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Magic.” Max said, “You saw me use magic to teleport myself from New York to the S.S. Tipton.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s only like… partly a stowaway.” Zack shrugged again, shutting his laptop. “He lives in New York, but he comes back here to see me.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What </span>
  <em>
    <span>are you?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Bailey didn’t lower her fists.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“A wizard. I’m a wizard.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Like with the </span>
  <em>
    <span>hat?</span>
  </em>
  <span> And the </span>
  <em>
    <span>beard?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I have neither of those and honestly we consider that assumption kinda racist, but yeah, kinda.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bailey took a hesitant step towards Max, and he made no threatening moves, she relaxed. She walked in a circle around him, looking him up and down. “So magic is real, and you know how to use it… can anyone learn it?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Of fucking course Bailey would just right in trying to understand it. Zack gave up on that ages ago.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Um, no.” Max shied away as Bailey tried to take his face in her hands to examine him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“So you have to be born with it?” She ignored his discomfort at the touching, and instead took him by the shoulders. Max let her. “Does that mean you’re not human?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh… Think of me like a different breed of human.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Her eyes lit up. “Really?” Zack could almost see the calculations forming in her head.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, like, you’re a golden retriever, and I’m a poodle.” Max used the same comparison he did when explaining it to Zack, he had to wonder if Max didn’t know how else to explain it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“How did wizards come to exist then? What made you different from other humans? Or… what made other humans different from you? Who came first, humans like me, or wizards?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, that’s… I dunno?” Max shot Zack a distressed look as Bailey plucked a strand of hair off his head.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Bailey, what’re you doing?” Zack asked, suspicious.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“For science,” She grinned, holding up the little hair like it was a treasure.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A panicked look crossed Max’s face and he snatched it from her, but Bailey immediately abandoned the hair in favor of taking the wand from Max’s back pocket.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“And this is what? A wand? What’s it made of? Is the magic inside of it? Or does it like, channel your magic?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh my god! Please stop!” Max had to wrestle his wand from her hands. “Bailey! Please listen to me!” He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look at him. “This is a secret! You can’t run tests on my hair, or mess with my wand, or ask me a million questions, okay? I don’t even know the answers to half of what you just asked me!” He looked about ready to tear his hair out from the stress.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bailey would probably collect it off the floor for science.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Why is it a secret? Your powers could be used to better humanity, or rocket human progression into the future! It could offer an entirely new understanding of the universe!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Or I could </span>
  <em>
    <span>dissected!” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Max shook her harshly by the shoulders. “Or locked up in a government facility for the rest of my life! Or used as a human weapon in a war!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When Bailey fell into silent horror at that, Max carried on, “It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened to someone like me! Yeah, we’re powerful, but we’re also a tiny fraction of the population! You outnumber us, and if your kind really wanted to, you could make us extinct. We’re not fighters! We’re just people who sometimes use magic to open the pickle jar instead of asking someone else to do it! None of the spells I know are meant for combat! They’re day to day life spells, like for making a sandwich, or teleporting me to school if I miss the bus!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack felt his insides twist in sympathy, he really wanted to give Max a hug, but he didn’t get up. Bailey was just starting to understand, he wasn’t going to stop Max from saying whatever else he needed to say to get her there.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I… I didn’t know.” Bailey stared at her shoes.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You can’t tell anyone about this, okay? Very few non-wizards have been trusted with this secret, and if you can’t keep your mouth shut, I’ll have no choice but to make you forget, and I really don’t want to do that, okay?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She nodded. “Okay. I won’t tell, but I still have a million questions.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“And I’m sure I can give you answers to like three of them, tops, but if you keep your mouth shut, I’ll answer what I can, okay?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bailey nodded decidedly, and offered a handshake. “Deal.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max took her hand. “Great.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She immediately launched back into the questions, “So seriously, does the wand channel magic from you, or does it possess magic itself?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay,” Max sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I have a headache, so I’ll answer that another time… Zack?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You have work in like…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack glanced at his phone. “Ten-ish minutes.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll come back after your shift then.” He leaned over the bed to give Zack a sweet kiss. “I love you, and I really wanted to talk about figuring shit out with my parents, but that can wait.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack pressed another kiss to Max’s lips, cupping his face. “I love you too, don’t stress yourself out too much. I’ll keep an eye on Bailey.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey!” She whined.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Please do,” Max kissed Zack’s nose before stepping back and wielding his wand. “From East to West, this spells no jest, wherever I roam, send me back home.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack had the foresight to shield his eyes so not to be blinded by the light. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bailey yelped at it and fell backwards onto Woody’s bed. When the light faded, she didn’t move, looking wide eyed and startled. “What did…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s magic, Bailey, I don’t know what else to tell you besides trying to understand is it pointless.” He hopped off his bed and offered Bailey a hand, pulling her to her feet. “Come on. I gotta get to work.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She followed him all the way to the slushie bar, almost appearing in a daze. Bailey sat at the bar his entire shift, on her phone, a crease in her brow.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack tried not to worry about what she was up to, but if it was involving Max, he had every right to be concerned. He had a strange protectiveness flare up in his chest at the idea of Max hurt, or scared, or being revealed…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max rarely talked about it. He didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>like </span>
  </em>
  <span>talking about it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>It </span>
  </em>
  <span>being humans knowing about wizards, and what it meant for him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He’d gotten the occasional off handed comment, always dismissed and the topic changed shortly after… but from what Zack could gather, Max was terrified of it. It was the kind of deep rooted terror that came from generations of people warning you about the dangers. It reminded him of how his mother spoke to him and Cody about consent, and how important it is. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>How he could see the deep fear instilled in her from her mother’s warnings, and her mother’s warnings… the generations of women warning each other.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But it was more than that. It was more than a passed down fear, it was a passed down fear that had been proven </span>
  <em>
    <span>right</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Whatever happened to Max, it had reinforced all the warnings he’d been given about being discovered.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max thought he missed it, but Zack saw the subtle ways he tensed up when doing magic anywhere besides behind a closed door. How he flinched if someone walked by while he had his wand out.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So Zack didn’t feel any shame snatching the phone out of Bailey’s hand, because making sure Max didn’t have to feel that fear was more important. He scowled at the screen, Bailey had been googling magic, and wizards. Thankfully the most useful thing to come up was crappy clipart of bearded men in robes, with hats covered in stars.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bailey at least had the decency to look ashamed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you think you’re gonna find googling ‘wizard?’” He passed the phone back. “Magic shows where someone pulls a bunny out of a hat?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I just have questions, okay?” She closed the tab.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I know, but you know what would be more productive than google? Writing out a list of questions to ask Max.” He pointed to her phone. “This is pretty worthless compared to the real thing, here, and willing to answer your questions.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bailey shrunk in on herself, then gave him a serious look. “How do you keep this a secret, Zack?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He sighed and picked up a cup to wipe down for a distraction. “I want him to be safe.” When Bailey didn’t respond, he kept talking, barely above a whisper. “The more I think about what could happen to him, the more I realise how much I want to protect him. How much I love him.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bailey’s phone chimed, and she glanced down at it on reflex.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack did too. It was a text from Cody, a string of heart emojis and a waving hand.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bailey gave a fond little smile and looked to her left, where Cody was folding towels and grinning back at her. “I think I get it.” She said softly to Zack. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll stay quiet.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack followed her gaze to his brother, and felt a swell of warmth for them both in his heart. It was nice to know someone wanted that for Cody, safety, protection, love… It was nice to know Bailey understood.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She muttered a goodbye and left to talk to Cody, so Zack pulled out his own phone and sent Max a text.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Bailey’s okay. She understands. You don’t have to worry about her. I love you so much.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He got a reply less than a minute later that only made the protective feeling in his chest grow.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘I think we have a new problem.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Couldn't sleep, so I stayed up all night writing more of this.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Invent A Spell, Then Call Me Stupid</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Max comes out to his parents.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Max Russo</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He left the ship with a horrible, anxious feeling bubbling under his skin. Bailey was going to be a problem, and he knew it. He knew it in his bones, like a deep and terrible ache. Like an ominous cloud, a threat hanging over him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Any second now. Any minute. Any hour. Any day.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t know </span>
  <em>
    <span>what </span>
  </em>
  <span>exactly, but he knew it was coming.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe he should have made her forget... He knew that’s what his parents would have told him to do. That’s what Justin would have done.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That’s not what </span>
  <em>
    <span>Alex </span>
  </em>
  <span>would have done. Alex would have been reckless. Alex would have done much worse than he had… and Alex got noticed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And that’s what he wanted, wasn’t it? To get noticed?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing. Maybe. Possibly. Probably not. It was probably a disaster in the making, waiting to swallow Max up and drag him under.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Yep. Max could already tell this was the only think he was going to think about today.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But Alex caught his arm on his way out of the lair. She has a spark of mischief in her eyes as she pulled him back into the lair. “Come on, I need to borrow you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max’s shoulders slumped, knowing she was about to drag him into some scheme he didn’t want to be a part of. “How much trouble am I gonna get in if you do?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“None if we do it right.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She directed him towards the couch, and he sat, frowning. “What is it?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex gave him a pleading smile, batting her eyes at him. “That spell you found… to get back on the cruise… what was it?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max felt his blood run cold. She wanted the spell? She wanted to get back on the ship? Why? What for? He didn’t want her back on the ship. The S.S. Tipton was </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and the only place he wasn’t overshadowed by her, and the idea of her there, with </span>
  <em>
    <span>Zack </span>
  </em>
  <span>and his </span>
  <em>
    <span>friends </span>
  </em>
  <span>was scaring him more than he’d like to admit.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Um…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Come on, please? I’ve got a date with Harper, and she mentioned she wished she could have done more on the cruise, so I thought I’d take her.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you two actually dating…?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex nodded, grinning. “Yeah! So, the spell?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max didn’t know how to tell her no. “It’s… uh, it’s complicated.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, if you can figure it out, I’m sure I can too.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>stung.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max grit his teeth, bit his tongue, then remembered he was done pretending. He didn’t have to anymore. “I’m not as stupid as you think I am.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex blinked. “I never said--,”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You did. You have, hundreds of times. All of you have. Every day of my life, you have.” He shot from the couch and grabbed the spell book Alex brought on the cruise off the shelf. He shoved it into Alex’s arms. “This is the book I used. If you can figure out the spell, then fine, you can call me an idiot all you want, but if you can’t, I want an apology. Deal?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She took the book, raising an eyebrow. “Okay, deal.” She said it with an irritating smirk, like she knew she’d win.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And Max walked away satisfied with the fact the spell wasn’t in that book, or </span>
  <em>
    <span>any </span>
  </em>
  <span>of them. Alex would waste her whole day with her nose in a book, trying to figure out that spell, feeling miserable, and slowly beginning to realize Max had managed something she hadn’t.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The bitterness eased, if only a little, making room for something new; </span>
  <em>
    <span>confidence.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Confidence in his intelligence, because it was true. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>invented a spell.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He did something even </span>
  <em>
    <span>Justin </span>
  </em>
  <span>couldn’t quite figure out. He might not be the smartest guy in the room, but Max could be okay with that, because he wasn’t an idiot.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>No matter what his parents, siblings, teachers, or even strangers said… He wasn’t stupid.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He wasn’t unteachable.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He knew that now.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And </span>
  <em>
    <span>Zack </span>
  </em>
  <span>knew that.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And it was time other people did too.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was time Alex, and Justin, and his parents knew a lot about him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He left the lair and found his parents in the shop kitchen, Justin working the counter. He didn’t overthink it. He didn’t allow himself too, instead he spoke before he could second guess himself, blurting out, “I’m gay.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His parents froze, his mother in the middle of making a sandwich, and his father nearly dropping a bottle of ketchup.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Justin, wide eyed, risked a glance through the window. Then pretended he heard nothing, turning back to the cash register.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What was that, </span>
  <span>Niño</span>
  <span>?” His mother asked, hesitant.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I said I’m gay, mom. As in, I like guys.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His father carefully set down the ketchup, then turned to face Max. He looked almost lost, like he had no idea where to begin. “You… who…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Waving off her husband, and deciding to take the reins, she put a hand on Max’s shoulder. “Oh, baby, you know we still love you, right?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I know.” He nodded. “I just thought it was time you knew.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His father finally seemed to find the words, “Is there someone in particular you’re…?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I have a boyfriend.” Max stared at his shoes. “His name is Zack. We’ve been together for a few months now. I had a few boyfriends before him, uh… but none of them lasted very long, and I’m really serious about Zack, so… I wanted you to know.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You should invite him over for dinner, </span>
  <span>Niño, we’d love to meet him, wouldn’t we, Jerry?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, </span>
  <em>
    <span>yeah,</span>
  </em>
  <span> absolutely, of course. Max, you should invite him over.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max’s heart stammer in his chest. It felt good, the attention. The way his parents both </span>
  <em>
    <span>completely </span>
  </em>
  <span>turned away from what they had been doing to look at him, to speak to him… “Really…? You want to meet him?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Why wouldn’t we want to meet our son’s boyfriend?” His mother took him by his shoulders and kissed the top of his head, grinning. “Is he nice? Is he tall? Does he like tamales?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max gave a breath of laughter, the warmth in his chest swelling and spreading through his entire body. “He’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>very </span>
  </em>
  <span>nice, he’s shorter than me, and I dunno, but I’ll ask. He’s white, so you might have to tone the spices down a little.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His mother nodded very seriously. “Note taken.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jerry turned back to his work, but kept the conversation going. They did have a business to run after all. “Is he a boy from school?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max wasn’t sure how to answer that. As much as he wanted to get noticed, he didn’t want to get grounded, so lying seemed best. “Uh, yeah, he is.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, let us know what day he’s free, and we’ll do dinner.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max nodded again. “Okay. I will.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He left the kitchen, but he didn’t get far before Justin stepped from behind the counter and pulled him into a hug. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Hey, I’m proud of you, okay? I love you.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Justin whispered, giving him a squeeze before letting go.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max wanted to cry. “Thanks,” it came out a bit hoarse.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He kept it together until reaching his bedroom, shutting the door, and falling onto his bed. Christ, today was stressful… but good. It felt good. He was riding high on the attention from his family, even if Alex’s hadn’t been entirely pleasant. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His phone buzzed, and he fished it out of his pocket to see a text from Zack. Before opening it, Max took a moment to edit the contact name. He hadn’t let himself before coming out, because anyone could see it, anyone could glance over at the wrong time and see a little heart beside Zack’s name… but now it didn’t matter.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max added the heart, then opened the text.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Bailey’s okay. She understands. You don’t have to worry about her. I love you so much.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And that brought back the reality of Bailey, and her knowing, and everything that went wrong today. It didn’t ruin his mood, but it did bring him down to earth.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He still had to deal with Bailey.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And then he had to deal with Zack meeting his parents. Oh god… would Zack even agree? Would he want to meet his parents?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max knew Zack hadn’t told his own yet, and that didn’t bother him. It was okay. Zack was new to this, to all of it. Max wasn’t going to push him into anything he wasn’t comfortable with, but…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Meeting the parents had just become a very real, and immediate concern.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He texted back, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘I think we have a new problem.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Come over in 10.’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>was all he got back.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘K, love you.’</span>
  </em>
  <span> Max replied, then laid on his bed for ten minutes, staring at the ceiling, praying Zack would agree.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Some traitorous little part of him loved the idea of Zack meeting his family, of them approving of him… Maybe it was because Zack was the first boyfriend he’d brought home. Maybe it was because deep down, Max knew Zack was the first boyfriend his parents could approve of… The others weren’t serious, or even nice people sometimes. They were random boys he made out with to get out his frustrations… random boys who never texted him back, or acknowledged him in the hallways at school.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They weren’t the kind of guys you brought home to meet the parents.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And then there was the idea of lying. Zack would have to claim to be from school, they’d have to make up a cover story about how they met, and god, did his parent’s approval of Zack even mean anything if all they did was lie about who Zack was?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He checked the time, then spelled himself onto the ship without moving from his bed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He reappeared on Zack’s bed, and Zack barely blinked, even though he now had Max’s head in his lap.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You alright, babe?” Zack set down his phone to play with Max’s hair, running his fingers through the brown curls.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I told my parents I’m gay.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack blinked. “You did?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep. They took it well, but now they want to meet you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, uh…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max felt his heart sink. “I can tell them no, if you don’t want to…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No! I want to!” Zack assured him, sounding almost panicked. “Of course I want to, I just didn’t know if </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>wanted to.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max sat up and shifted so he was facing Zack, cupping his cheek. “Mi Amor, I love you so fucking much, and I want my family to like you, I’m just worried about lying to them. They think you’re a boy from my school, and they don’t know you know about magic, and I hate that you already have to lie for me, to hide magic, and I don’t want to ask you to lie more.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack leaned into his touch, then kissed his palm. “It’s okay, Max. You don’t have to ask me to lie for you. I’d do it anyway.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max closed those last couple inches to kiss him, soft and tender, then pulled back with a hopeful smile. “So that’s a yes?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Absolutely.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His smile broke into a full on grin. “How do you feel about tamales?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh…” His face went completely blank. “I don’t know what they are.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max gave him a look of sympathy. “How are you with spicy food?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Not great.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Patting him on the back, Max said, “Well, we’ll try not to kill you with them then.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Me Fucking Too Bud</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I stayed up all night writing, it's 7am, I might as well keep going.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Zack Martin</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After Max left again, Zack stared at his phone for a long time, considering… mulling it over.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He thought he could do it. He could probably do it. It should be easy. He didn't even have to look at their faces when he told them, he didn’t even have to hear their voices. He could just text them.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It would be easy. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m bisexual,” He said to the empty room. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>See? Easy.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Now he just had to type it out and press send.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It’s just pressing buttons. That’s all it was. It wasn’t scary. It should be easy.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack selected his mother’s contact, and typed, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘I’m’</span>
  </em>
  <span> before deleting it. He typed it again. Then again. Then again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He never hit send.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Telling his mother was too much. She was the parent who was there for him. She was the one that would actually feel like a loss if she didn’t take it well.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His father though… he was barely around. He only had to see him three times a year. If he took it badly… it would be okay. Yeah. It would be fine.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It would be totally fine.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack typed out the message.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Then deleted it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Then typed it again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Then deleted it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“God damnit.” He hissed, wiping at his eyes. He didn’t know when he started crying, but he was furious at himself for it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Without thinking, he pulled up Cody’s contact and texted him instead. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Come over.’</span>
  </em>
  <span> He didn’t need to explain why, he knew Cody would just do it without asking. They might fight, but they were brothers, and they loved each other. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sure enough, Cody opened the cabin door a few minutes later. He took one look at Zack, miserable, red, puffy eyes, and tear stained cheeks… then quietly shut the door behind him. Without a word, Cody climbed onto the bed and pulled Zack into a hug.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack leaned into him, sniffling. “I’m sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t apologize. What happened? Is it Max?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack shook his head. “I’ve been sitting here for over an hour, trying to tell mom and dad, and I </span>
  <em>
    <span>can’t.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Cody hugged him a little tighter. “It’s gonna be okay, you know that, right?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I know, it’s just… Dad, you know?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I know.” Cody pulled back enough to meet Zack’s eyes. “What can I do to help?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack held out his phone, the message </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Dad, I’m bisexual,’</span>
  </em>
  <span> already typed out. “Hit send for me? Don’t let me change my mind, just do it.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Cody took the phone without question, and hit send. He tried to hand it back, but Zack wouldn’t take it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No, can you just hold it until he replies?” Zack’s voice cracked, and he wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “If it’s bad, delete it. I don’t want to see.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They sat in silence, in a half hug, Zack leaning into Cody… and waited. They waited for nearly an hour, then the phone buzzed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack tensed on instinct, and Cody held the phone so Zack couldn’t see, so he watched his face instead… searching for any indication of how it went. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His expression twisted into something almost amused, then he scoffed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Is it bad?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” Cody held out the phone. “I think you should read it.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack’s hands shook as he took the phone back. The reply was short. Four words.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Me fucking too, bud.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack barked a tearful laugh, and Cody laughed with him, pulling him back into a tight hug.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“See? Everything’s fine.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack was already typing out a response. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Do you think mom will care?’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The response was immediate. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘She didn’t care when I told her. Your mother loves you, Zack. That’s not gonna change.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Then a second text right after that. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Can I call you?’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack hit the call button in answer. It rang once before being picked up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey dad.” He knew he sounded teary, but he didn’t care.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Put him on speaker.” Cody nudged him. “I wanna say hi too.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Cody’s here too.” He hit speaker, and held out between them.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hi dad!” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Hey Cody! Hey Zack! Zack, you know I’m so proud of you, right?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I know, thanks dad.” He had to wipe at his eyes again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Can I ask why you wanted to tell me now?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Um, my uh, my boyfriend just came out to his parents, and I guess I soaked up some of his bravery.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“You have a boyfriend?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> His dad almost sounded surprised. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Tell me about him.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Cody gestured to the door and whispered, “I’ll give you two some privacy.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack mouthed back </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘thank you.’</span>
  </em>
  <span> He turned off speaker and held the phone back to his ear. “His name is Max, he’s from New York. I met him on the cruise.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Is he, you know, nice? Good to you?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack grinned at that, heart swelling. “He’s amazing, he uh… he taught me a term, it was, um… he was my </span>
  <em>
    <span>gay crisis.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His father barked a laugh on the other end of the line. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Yeah?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah... he’s the only reason I realized I liked guys.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Sounds like a keeper to me, bud.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“He definitely is.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I can help you tell your mother, if you want?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No, dad. Thanks, but… Cody’s helping me.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Good, good, I’m glad you boys take care of each other.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I gotta go dad. I love you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I love you too, bud. Hey, maybe we can go to pride some time?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Can Max come?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Course, bud.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They said their goodbyes, and Zack hung up. He sat in the silence for a bit longer, the tears drying on his cheeks, and amazingly not feeling like he’d lost something.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack felt like he gained something instead.</span>
</p>
<p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Beginnings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Last chapter folks. Don't worry. It's a happy ending.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Max Russo</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you think they’ll like me?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I think they’ll love you.” Max smoothed out Zack’s collared shirt, and fixed his hair. “Probably. I’ve never brought anyone home before.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Not reassuring, but thanks, babe.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Your welcome.” Max dove in to kiss him on the cheek, then took his hand.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They were standing outside the shop, waiting to head in and introduce Zack to the Russo family. They were both stressed to hell and back, and Max had taken to repeating their practiced lies in his head.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He met Zack at school, they had the same history class.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They were paired up for a project.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack recently moved here from Boston.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack was never on the cruise. Justin and Alex wouldn’t recognize him, they barely spent any time around him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack didn’t know about magic.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max opened the door and led Zack inside the restaurant.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His father was waiting for them, grinning. “Hi! You must be Zack, I’m Jerry Russo, Max’s father, so nice to meet you.” He shook Zack’s hand. “Strong grip you got there, young man.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack gave an awkward chuckle. “Nice to meet you too, Mr. Russo.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Dad, you’re gonna shake his hand off.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry.” He dropped Zack’s hand, and gestured up the stairs. “Come on, everyone else is waiting.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His mother dotted over Zack at first sight, just about trying to pinch his cheeks, and Max had to shoo her away.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Justin offered a friendly wave, and a “Hey.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack did his </span>
  <em>
    <span>cool guy nod</span>
  </em>
  <span> back. “Sup.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max let out a relieved breath at Justin and didn't seem to recognize him. Everything was going well. Everything was fine.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Go ahead and sit down, boys.” His mother waved him towards the table. “I’ll go find Alex. She went back to her room for something.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max made a point of pulling out Zack’s chair, like a proper gentleman, and the adoring smile Zack gave him was too perfect. He took his seat beside Zack, their knees touching under the table.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“So Max says you’re from Boston?” Jerry asked, reaching into the center of the table to serve himself a plate of tamales.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I am. I actually grew up in a luxury hotel, because my mom is a lounge singer.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That had to be an interesting way to grow up.” Jerry picked up Zack’s plate next, piling it high with the less spicy tamales.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I guess so. Me and my brother used to race luggage carts around the lobby.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Justin wrinkled his nose at Max. “Didn’t you do that on the cruise with someone?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Both Max and Zack froze, but Max quickly recovered. “Yeah, Zack told me about it before the cruise, and when I saw the carts, I thought I’d give it a try.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Justin seemed to accept that answer, nodding thoughtfully. “Okay…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Doesn’t sound very safe.” Jerry frowned, giving Max a scolding look.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“We wore helmets.” Zack said, then realized his mistake, “I mean, I always wore a helmet when I did it, I assume Max did the same?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I did!” Max nodded eagerly.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, just… don’t do it again, and if you do, don’t tell your mother.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max nodded. “Noted.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His mother came bouncing back down the stairs with Alex in tow. “Found her! She was reading, believe it or not!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex was scowling, she had bags under her eyes, and Max could guess what she’d been reading.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Figure it out yet?” Max asked, grinning.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex moved to flip him off, then seemed to remember they had company, and faked a sweet smile instead. “No, not yet, but I will.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She took her seat across from Zack, and started making herself a plate, but her eyes landed on Zack, she paused. Her eyebrows furrowed. “Do I know you?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I go to your school, you’ve probably seen me around the halls.” Zack tried to shrug it off.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex wasn’t deterred. “No, not from school… the cruise. You were on the cruise!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max’s stomach dropped.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What? No, Alex--,”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I’m right, I know I am, which means…” She trailed off, then her eyes widened. “How are you here? Max, how is he here, what did you do?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What’re you talking about, Alex?” Jerry asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck fuck fuck fuck.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“He was on the cruise! Dad, I know I scheme when I see one, Max brought him here from the--, oh my god, that’s why you wanted the--,” She cut herself off before saying </span>
  <em>
    <span>spell, </span>
  </em>
  <span>then seemed to realise something else entirely. “Wait a fucking minute--,”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Alex, language!” Their mother scolded.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She shot from her chair. “He knows, doesn’t he? That’s the only way you’d be able to get him here!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck fuck fuck fuck.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Knows what?” Justin interjected.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Magic! Max, you told him, didn’t you? It’s the only thing that makes sense!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max sunk into his chair. “Uh…” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They were all staring at him now, even Zack, whose hand had found Max’s under the table was holding on for dear life.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, he knows.” Max covered his face with one hand, unwilling to let go of Zack’s. “I told him about wizards.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“You what?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> His parents and Justin all gawked in unison.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ve been using that spell to get back and forth from the ship to home, and he’s why, isn’t he?” Alex accused, piecing everything together a bit more with every word out of her mouth.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ve been doing </span>
  <em>
    <span>what?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> A look of outrage, or maybe horror, crossed Jerry’s face. “Do you have </span>
  <em>
    <span>any </span>
  </em>
  <span>idea how dangerous that is, Max? There aren’t any teleportation spells to get you on a moving object! You could spell yourself into the sea!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You could </span>
  <em>
    <span>what?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Zack balked. “You didn’t tell me it was that dangerous!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max winced. It wasn’t that dangerous, not with his spell, designed specifically to get him back on the S.S. Tipton… “Actually…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What spell did you use?” Justin demanded. “How did you even manage it without drowning?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What was the wording, tell me.” Jerry’s tone left no room for arguing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Muttering, face burning, Max said with no power behind it, “Away, away, from my New York blues, get me back on that fucking cruise.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Language!” His mother repeated, smacking Max’s arm with her napkin.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s not even a spell!” Jerry held his head, a pained look about him. “You’ve been risking your life to hang out with your boyfriend?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack stared at Max in utter horror. “Please tell me that’s not true.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex put up one hand, signaling for silence. She had a stunned, quiet look about her, like the last piece of the puzzle had just dawned on her. “It’s not true, is it? You’re not risking your life, because you found a better way. I searched all of dad’s spell books, I spent several days trying to figure out that spell, it wasn’t in any of them. I even called a friend at Wiztech… that spell doesn’t exist.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Then what spell did he use?” His mother asked, glancing around the table for answers.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex scoffed, amazement taking over her face, and shoulders relaxing. “You invented one, didn’t you?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>All eyes turned back to Max…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I… yeah. I did.” He stared at his lap to avoid their eyes. “I didn’t want to lose Zack, so I... I made my own spell.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Silence fell over the table for a long moment.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack broke it first, “So you’re not risking your life, you’re not putting yourself in danger for me, right?” He sounded so broken at the idea of it...</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max squeezed his hand. “Right, I promise. I’m not in any danger.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Justin managed to find the words next. “You invented a spell… a functional one… I could barely do that.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex didn’t sit down. She didn’t move. “I owe you an apology,” She sighed, “Don’t I?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max managed to meet her gaze. “That was the deal, yeah?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You were right, Max, I’m sorry.” She hung her head, “I’m sorry I</span>
  <em>
    <span>--we--</span>
  </em>
  <span>treated you like an idiot, you didn’t deserve that.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Now hang on, we never treated him like--,”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, we did mom.” Alex met her gaze head on. “We didn’t realise what Max was doing sooner exactly </span>
  <em>
    <span>because </span>
  </em>
  <span>we thought he was an idiot. We thought he was too stupid to pull off what he did, so we never even </span>
  <em>
    <span>considered </span>
  </em>
  <span>it. Max said it to me himself, we treated him like an idiot. All of us. Everyday, for his entire life.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max couldn’t tear his eyes from his lap, but Zack scooted his chair closer to hug him, a small comfort. He leaned into the touch.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Guess I proved you wrong huh?” Max scoffed bitterly.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You did.” Alex agreed. “But you shouldn’t have had to.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Finally, Jerry spoke up. “I’m sorry, Max. Looking back, I can see now that some of what I said to you was… I’m sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The food was getting cold. No one cared.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“How were we supposed to know you were capable of something like this if your grades are so…” Justin trailed off, no need to finish the sentence, everyone knew exactly what he meant… Max was a straight F student.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m actually making C’s and B’s now…” Max muttered.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You… you are?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“My brother runs a study group with his girlfriend, Max started coming a while back.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s actually how I figured out I might have ADHD, and after I got on meds, and with the study group… I’ve been doing a lot better in school.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“How come we didn’t know?” His mother asked gently, reaching across the table to take Max’s hand. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max bristled at the comment, shooing her hand off. “You stopped checking my grades years ago. You gave up on me because I was too stupid to get anythign above a D.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“We didn’t give up on--,”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh my god, we did.” Jerry dragged a hand down his face, horrified. “We </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Theresa.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max’s throat felt raw, so he took a drink of water, then held the glass to his chest. “I got used to it at some point, being ignored, being pushed to the side… I thought it was a blessing, because I could get away with anything and no one noticed, like be gay and date guys… but um… It turned into a lot of pent up bitterness over the years, and I’m still </span>
  <em>
    <span>so angry</span>
  </em>
  <span> with all of you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“We deserve that.” Justin admitted quietly.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know how to stop being angry at you. I had two parents in my life, and yet I feel like no one raised me.” His voice broke at the end, shaky and heartbroken.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Max…” Zack cupped his face, wiping a few stray tears away. “Are you okay?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know.” He sniffled.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jerry stood up and circled the table, pulling his son into a tight hug. “Good god, Max, I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry I made you feel that way. I’m gonna do better, I swear.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His body shook with a sob, and Max allowed himself to be hugged. It had been years since his father hugged him. He couldn’t even remember the last time...</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Theresa stood next, joining them, wrapping her arms around him. “Niño, baby, we’re sorry. I’ll try to do better.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When they pulled back, Max wiped at his face. “So, are you mad… about Zack? That he knows?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His parents exchanged glances, then Jerry shrugged. “Harper knows, and she’s kept it a secret. If Zack can do the same, I don’t see a problem, but next time you want to tell someone, ask first.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max made the wise choice not to tell them about Bailey.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“And I can keep going back to the ship to see Zack?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack sat up a bit straighter. “I help him with his class work, and I really care about him, and--,”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t have to give me reasons, Zack. Of course you can keep visiting your boyfriend, Niño.” Theresa gently pat Max’s hand.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Max turned to face his siblings next. “Are we good too?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex nodded and finally sat down. “I want you to teach me that spell though.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t,” His father warned. “She’s far enough behind in school as is. She doesn’t need a cruise distracting her.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex pouted, but didn’t protest.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Justin?” Max asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, we’re good, Max.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zack took his hand again and squeezed as Max let it wash over him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The attention. The terrifying new experience of being </span>
  <em>
    <span>known</span>
  </em>
  <span>, being </span>
  <em>
    <span>seen… </span>
  </em>
  <span>Being seen as something </span>
  <em>
    <span>positive</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It was thrilling, and calming all at once. The excitement of something new, mixed with the calm of knowing the worst is behind you… like watching the sea smooth out after a storm.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t realize, until just now, that </span>
  <em>
    <span>truly </span>
  </em>
  <span>happy endings felt like beginnings. </span>
</p>
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